


Silent Plea

by SkepticalSunshine



Category: One Piece
Genre: Brotherly Love, Dark! Strawhats, Dark!Luffy, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Multi, Our sunshine boy is a psycho, Possessive Behavior
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:36:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23917672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkepticalSunshine/pseuds/SkepticalSunshine
Summary: When Ace dropped in on his brother for a surprise visit, he didn't expect someone else to be staying there.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 145
Kudos: 333





	1. Chapter One

“It’s not a dick move if I wake him up at 2AM to surprise him, right?” Ace asked, standing outside the door that had a plaque with the number 2307 next to it.

_“_ Not more than waking me up just to ask.” Sabo replied irritated, his voice thick with sleep. 

_“_ Hey! I didn’t know that the flight would be so delayed. Maybe I should have just slept in a motel tonight…”

“Well, you’re there now and I’m pretty sure Luffy is going to be thrilled to see you, odd nighttime hours aside.”

Ace sighed as he rang the doorbell. Even if Luffy didn’t appreciate the rude awakening, he could never get mad at Ace for long. Sabo was probably right.

“I rang the bell.”

“Great. Can I go back to sleep now?”

“Fine. I’ll tell you how it went in the morning.”

The dial tone sounded from the other side. His brother had already hung up on him. 

_Rude._

The door swung open and Ace was met with the sight of his little brother’s disgruntled and slightly pissed off face.

“What?” he growled, before he realized who he was talking to and his expression gave way to one of shock mixed with amazement, before a grin split across his face and his wide eyes sparkled with wonder and joy, the same look he always gave Ace.

_Yup. He isn’t mad._

“ACE!!” his little brother exclaimed before launching himself into Ace’s open arms causing him to stumble back and trip over the suitcase that was behind him. 

“I’m so happy to see you! I missed you so much!” Luffy continued, rubbing his cheek against Ace’s chest. Ace smiled down at his brother. It had been a year since he saw him after all. Well, in person that is. It’s not like they could cuddle like this over video calls.

“I missed you too. Sorry about the late visit though, I was supposed to be here hours ago but my flight was delayed and I didn’t feel like spending the night in a motel and-”

“Nevermind all that! I’m glad you came! You can stay here as long as you want, I’m your little brother after all! Shishishishi!”

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but we should really get off of the hallway floor. We don’t want to disturb your neighbors after all.”

“Right!”

They picked themselves off the floor and Ace followed Luffy inside, dragging his suitcase behind him. His eyes widened as he took in the interior of Luffy’s apartment. Everything looked so...clean. No dirty dishes in the kitchen, no dirty laundry scattered around the living room, no overflowing trash can. There was even a fresh floral scent in the air.

“Did you have the place cleaned up recently?” he asked as he swept a finger across the coffee table in the living room. Spotless.

“Uh...no. Why?” came the confused reply from his brother.

Ace turned to stare at him with an incredulous look on his face.

_Could it be? Is Luffy finally growing up and becoming a responsible young adult?_

“Then why is everything so clean?! Please tell me you don’t get your friends to clean up after you. Robin and Vivi are too nice, I swear.”

“No! That’s not it….it’s...uh...well…”

Ace looked up from where he was inspecting the furniture and watched as his younger brother scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish as if he didn’t know how to answer.

That in itself was strange. Ace couldn’t remember the last time Luffy ever looked sheepish. He made a mental note to ask Sabo. 

He walked to the door that was probably the master bedroom- Luffy’s room- and opened it.

_If this is clean too, then Luffy is definitely making his friends clean up for him and I’ll have to give him a talk later._

“Wait!” his brother called from behind him, “don’t open that-”

The door swung open and Ace flicked on the light switch.

Golden eyes met his own.

Ace froze.

There, on Luffy’s bed, in the middle of his somehow organized and immaculate room, lay a man who had pulled up the sheets around him as soon as Ace had turned the light on. Ace hadn’t seen anything, but he could tell from the man’s bare arms and chest that his lower half was probably bare too. He stared back at Ace with a wide gaze and a shocked expression that probably mirrored Ace’s own.

_There’s a naked man. In Luffy’s bed._

For a while, nobody moved.

Then, Ace noticed a blush creeping up on the other man’s face and he turned away slowly to hide it. Ace turned around and left the room silently when he started feeling his own face burning. Luffy followed him and he walked into the living room. It still hadn’t settled in. He didn’t even know Luffy was seeing someone. And if he was naked...then that would mean…

Ace whipped around to look at his brother, noticing for the first time that he was shirtless and in nothing but a pair of sweats.

Luffy didn’t even look embarrassed.

Ace stood there in the middle of the room, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

He wasn’t sure how to react, so he simply asked while pointing at a door opposite to Luffy’s room, “Is that the guest bedroom?”

Luffy nodded and Ace briskly walked into it and shut the door behind him.

He fell backwards into the bed and stared at the ceiling as he tried to get his thoughts in order.

He regretted wanting to surprise Luffy. It had all gone differently in his head. He was going to surprise his brother by showing up unannounced and they would happily spend the week together waiting for Sabo to arrive.

He didn’t think he would walk in on Luffy with someone. Now he just felt embarrassed.

_Maybe it’s just like a one time thing or something?_

He didn’t want this to be how he met Luffy’s boyfriend. If he was Luffy’s boyfriend that is. 

_But...what if he’s the one who’s been cleaning up the place? That would mean that he lives here...right?_

Ace picked up a pillow and shoved it in his face. His hand reached into his pocket to pull out his phone and dial.

Six rings later, he picked up.

“Hrnnnghh…”

“Sabo. Wake up.”

“...Why are you doing this to me…”

“I need to talk to you! I just embarrassed myself by walking in on Luffy’s boyfriend in bed but I didn’t think he would be there or that Luffy even had a boyfriend. Did you know? Because I sure didn’t. And I just wanted to see his room because the whole place is sparkling clean-”

“Slow down. I’m too sleepy to keep up with another one of your word vomits. You did what?”

“Walked into Luffy’s room and there was a naked man in his bed.”

“......”

“Did you fall asleep?”

“Come again?”

“Did you fall-”

“Not that. Before that.”

“Walked in on a naked dude in Luffy’s bed.”

“....Ace. It’s Luffy. With him there’s probably another explanation for that. Whatever it is. Just leave him alone and apologize in the morning.”

“I’m not so sure about that becau-”

The dial tone sounded again. Ace took the phone away from his ear to stare at it in surprise instead.

A light knock sounded at the door and Luffy entered before Ace could respond.

“Hey.” he said, moving to lie next to Ace on the bed.

“I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know someone else was going to be here. Is it still okay if I stay?”

“Of course! Ace is my brother.”

“Yeah, but...if you guys are living together, I should probably ask him too.”

“Torao won’t mind.”

“So...is he like...your boyfriend or something?”

“Yeah. I love Torao.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about him?”

“I forgot.”

Shit excuse knowing that Luffy always talked his ears off whenever it came to his friends. Why would he forget to talk about his boyfriend?”

“Who were you talking to? On the phone.”

“Sabo.”

“Is he coming too?”

“Yeah, in a few days.”

“Why though? You didn’t even call.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise. Your birthday is next week.”

“Oh yeah! We’re going to have a big party!”

Ace smiled lovingly at his brother. He pulled him in for a hug and rubbed his cheek against Luffy’s hair.”

“The biggest party,” he said in agreement.

They both laid there, content with the other’s presence and it was a while before Ace felt his eyelids grow heavy with sleep.

“I think I’m going to call it a day now. See you in the morning?”

“Yeah! See you Ace!” 

Luffy jumped up and helped Ace take his shoes off, waving at Ace before shutting the door.

Ace collapsed back into bed, letting sleep carry him away.

* * *

Law buried himself under the sheets as he heard the door open and close. The mattress gave in under Luffy’s weight as he crawled in next to him and draped himself over Law’s back. Law kept his eyes shut and tried his hardest to feign sleep.

“I know you’re awake, Torao.”

He stiffened as he felt the whisper against the back of his neck. Luffy’s arms wrapped tight around him, his legs trapping Law’s with a firm grip. Luffy’s thumb massaged the inside of Law’s wrist as he spoke.

“Ace is staying with us for a while, so be good okay?”

Law nodded.

Luffy’s fingers curled around his wrist and squeezed threateningly.

“No funny business. You remember what happened last time?”

Law nodded once more, not even wincing as Luffy’s fingers uncurled, leaving bruises in their wake.

“Love you so much Torao.”

He pressed a tender kiss into the back of his neck, pressing his face there as he drifted off into sleep.

Law resigned himself to another sleepless night.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing much happens in this chapter, it's just meant to get the stones rolling for the rest of the story.
> 
> I know that Luffy's nickname for Law is just 'Tra-guy or Traffy' , Tora-o in japanese, but Torao is also japanese for "Tiger" so I just rolled with it.

Delicious aromas wafting through the air were what caused Ace to stir awake in the morning. He yawned and tossed in the bed, not feeling like waking up completely just yet, but when his stomach began to growl and rumble he acquiesced and rolled out of bed. He checked the time on his phone, his lock screen displaying 9:10 AM over a picture of him and his best friend Deuce. After digging through his suitcase for his toothbrush, towel and a set of fresh clothes, Ace left the room and wandered into the living room where the good smells were coming from.

Luffy was sitting on the couch still dressed in his pajamas, devouring food off the plate in front of him as he watched Saturday morning cartoons like the overgrown child he was. His eyes followed the figures on the screen as he continued to shove food in his mouth, occasionally taking a break to cheer for the heroes when they landed a hit or to frown if the villains got the upper hand. He hadn’t changed at all and if Ace closed his eyes he could imagine that they were all back together in their childhood home in Colbo with Sabo, spending their Saturday mornings together fighting over food and the remote to the TV as Dadan would holler at them to keep it down and not give her a headache so early in the morning.

But he wasn’t in Colbo, he was in Raftel, the city Luffy had moved to two years ago, and Ace had an apology to make to Luffy’s boyfriend.

Luffy met his gaze and grinned at him, food hanging out the corner of his mouth, and waved at him. Ace smiled back and turned to walk slowly towards the kitchen island instead.

_Cool and confident, Ace._

Ace took a seat at the counter, placing his items on the chair next to him, and took a deep breath as the man working at the stove turned around and their eyes met again.

Neither one of them said anything for a couple of seconds, and then Luffy’s boyfriend smiled and placed a plate of food in front of him. Ace took that as his que to start talking.

“Hi. I’m Ace, Luffy’s brother. It’s nice to meet you, Torao. I’m really sorry about last night. I wouldn’t have barged into your room like that if I had known you were there. Not exactly the first impression I wanted to make.”

Luffy’s boyfriend raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

“You don’t need to apologize, I had assumed you didn’t do it on purpose. My name is Law, by the way.”

“What?” Ace replied, whipping his head around to glare at Luffy, who continued to chew away as if Ace wasn’t about to throw his shoe at him.

“Torao is just something Luffy calls me. Like, a nickname.”

“Oh. I forgot he does that to people. Why Torao though?”

“Because he’s beautiful _and_ deadly. Like a tiger!” Luffy chimed in from the living room.

Law rolled his eyes so hard Ace feared they might get stuck. He supposed it was a justified reaction to such a cheesy response. Law turned his attention back to whatever he was cooking and Ace took the chance to get a better look at him. He was tall, easily half a foot taller than Luffy, and had a lean figure. He was dressed in a navy blue sweatshirt and jeans, and he had the letters for DEATH tattooed on his fingers. Ace guessed he was good looking enough, though Luffy wasn’t really known for caring much about looks.

“Ace, if you don’t want to eat that, I totally will for you.” Luffy said, suddenly standing right next to him when Ace swore he was just on the couch.

“No way!” Ace replied, shoving his brother’s face away from his plate. “Get your own.”

Luffy pouted at him but Law wordlessly took his empty plate from his hands, filled it, and handed it back to him. Luffy beamed at him and ran back to his spot in front of the TV with a “Thanks Torao!” thrown over his shoulder. Ace started eating his own breakfast with an enthusiasm that could match his brother’s. Law turned the stove off, plating two fried eggs and taking a seat across from Ace. He stabbed at them with a fork, cutting them into bits and pieces and not really putting any in his mouth, leaning his head on one of his hands as he did so. He didn’t really seem too keen on eating. 

_Ironic that the food lover would fall for someone who didn’t really seem to love food._

After finishing his meal, Ace thanked Law for the food and headed to the bathroom for a shower. He tried hard not to think too much about the fact that Law had sighed and thrown his untouched breakfast into the trash after Ace had turned around.

* * *

  
  
Sitting on the couch freshly showered and dressed, Ace briefly contemplated calling Sabo as they watched some lame slasher movie on TV. Luffy was sandwiched between him and Law, chattering his head off about this and that, something about Usopp’s skateboard tricks and Nami punching a dude in the face for not returning her money to her on time. Law nodded his head from time and time and would ask a question or compliment Luffy’s friends here and there, but it was clear that he wasn’t really interested in whatever Luffy was talking about either. Ace thought it was nice of him to indulge Luffy like that though.

“So, uh,” he started, not wanting to listen to any of it anymore, “How long have you two been together?”

Luffy and Law shifted their attention towards him and briefly exchanged a glance before Luffy replied, “Well, remember when I went to Flevance?”

How could he forget? It had been shortly after Luffy had moved out from Dadan’s place in Colbo and settled in Raftel. He and Usopp had planned a trip to go skiing up in North Blue and a few days after they had gotten there, Ace had received a very distressing phone call from a frantic Sabo, who had just been informed by Robin, that Luffy had been in a skiing accident. He had received life threatening injuries and had been in the ICU for three days, but they had only been contacted after Luffy’s condition had stabilized and he had been shifted from the ICU. It was a pretty shitty time for him and Sabo, given that neither one of them could visit as Ace was in the middle of filming a movie and Sabo was in the middle of an important investigation. Even though Luffy had repeatedly assured them that he was fine and that his doctors and friends were taking good care of him and there was no need for them to come, Ace had spent the better part of those days wracked with guilt and worry.

“Yeah. I remember. What about it?”

“Since then.”

_Heh?_

“Since then? Luffy, that was two years ago!”

Luffy just nodded. Law...didn’t really meet his gaze.

_No no no. Hold up. Hold up. Two years? Luffy didn’t tell us he was in a relationship for two whole years?_

_What. What. WhatWhatWhatWhat-_

“WHAT?!”

“What?” Luffy parroted back at him, eyes wide with confusion.

“Luffy why didn’t you tell us anything? And don’t say you forgot. Two years is a long time. Do you not trust us or something?”

“I did sort of tell you ab-”

“When? Because I would’ve remembered.”

“When I was in the hospital. You were upset and wanted to know everything that happened and I told you.”

It was Ace’s turn to be confused now. 

“When I fell, no one was there. The resort was closing up, I think we were the only people there at the time and Usopp was scared and he didn't want us to do it but...you know me. I thought it would be easy.”

Ace closed his eyes as he tried not to imagine his little brother rolling down a mountain until he was finally pierced by a sharp rock in his chest.

“No one else had seen it happen,” Luffy continued, turning towards Law and placing his hand on top of his. Law continued to stare resolutely at the TV screen, but a smile slowly bloomed on Luffy’s face as he continued to gaze at him.

“No one but Torao. He came after me and stopped the bleeding, and helped me breathe, and held me while the medics were on their way and we were all alone. He told me everything would be okay. He...saved my life.”

Luffy laid his head down in Law’s lap and Law began to slowly thread his fingers through his hair. Ace remembered Luffy telling him that a stranger had helped him, that without him he most certainly would have died on that mountain. But he never told Ace he started to date said stranger.

“It was fate, Ace.” Luffy said, “We were meant to be!”

_There are alot of things wrong with this._

Firstly, Luffy had only stayed in Flevance for two weeks after he had been injured. Two weeks wouldn't be enough time to get to know someone. Unless...maybe they just became friends and stayed in contact, and the relationship had evolved over time. Okay, that would make sense. But why hide this? Did Luffy just want his brothers away from his love life? Deuce did say he could be a bit too much when it came to Luffy, and Sabo was even worse. Okay, maybe Luffy’s secretive behavior was justified. 

“How long have you lived here?” Ace asked Law. 

Law looked at him and didn’t answer. He looked...surprised? Which was weird, because Ace didn’t think he asked him anything surprising. Law’s fingers stopped in their tracks and he opened his mouth to say something, but Luffy answered for him.

“Three months.” 

Something in Law’s expression changed then, and he turned back to the TV.

“Three months,” Law echoed, but he sounded strange.

* * *

Afterwards, Law had excused himself and went back to his room. Ace and Luffy stayed in the living room and video called Sabo, relaying the entire story to him.

“Weird that you didn’t mention it though Luffy,” Sabo said with a thoughtful expression. Luffy didn’t say anything and just shrugged and when Ace saw Sabo was beginning to frown, he decided to have mercy on Luffy and help him out a bit.

“Come on, Sabo. It’s _us_ . Why _would_ he tell us?” he said.

“Because we tell each other everything,” Sabo replied in a heartbeat and that truth resonated deeply with Ace, but he decided not to voice his agreement. 

Luffy was looking away from the phone screen, at the door to his room. 

Where Law was. 

“Luffy,” Sabo began, “I know we can be overwhelming and overprotective sometimes-”

“All the time.” Sabo’s girlfriend Koala chimed in from somewhere in the background of Sabo’s room. 

“-But we only do it because we care. Brothers look out for each other, right?”

“Right.” Luffy replied, still not looking at Sabo.

“We’ll try to tone it down, but please don’t start keeping things from us,” Sabo pleaded. 

Luffy nodded, finally looking back at Sabo.

“That being said, is there anything else you want to tell us?”

Ace glared at Sabo, trying to tell him that maybe now wasn’t the time to be pushing it. Luffy remained silent, looked once between Sabo and Ace and then bit his lip.

Ace’s eyes widened and he could tell without looking that Sabo’s reflection mirrored his own. They were on to something.

Until Binks’ sake began to play.

Luffy hurriedly picked up his phone and walked into his room.

Ace turned back to Sabo.

“Something’s up,” Sabo said, his voice low.

“Yeah.”

“Keep an eye on him, Ace.”

“Maybe we’re overreacting though. I mean Luffy has his own life now. Maybe he’s not actually that serious about Law.”

“Is that the impression you got?”

“Well….no.”

“Yeah. I don’t know what it is...but something just bugs me about the whole situation. Look, I have to go now, but I’ll call you back later, okay?”

“Sure.”

Luffy came out of his room just as Sabo hung up.

“Hey. Who was that?” Ace asked.

“That was Sanji! He said everyone’s meeting up at the Baratie today and they all really want you to come. They’re excited to see you again!”

“Okay, let me just get my wallet and we can leave.”

Ace retrieved his wallet and earphones from the guest bedroom. Luffy had hurriedly changed out of his sweats into a black T shirt and yellow capris. Ace chanced a glance past him into his room where Law sat on the bed, his back towards Ace. 

“Isn’t he coming?” Ace asked Luffy as they headed to the door. 

“Oh. Nah. Torao isn’t feeling well.”

Ace frowned. Maybe that’s why Law didn’t seem to have an appetite in the morning. The doorbell rang as they approached the door. Luffy opened it to reveal a tall man with long blond curls and a sparkling smile.

“Oh. Hey Cabbage.” Luffy greeted him.

_Cabbage? Seriously? What is up with these names?_

“Luffy,” Ace began in a scolding tone.

‘Cabbage’ seemed used to it and waltzed inside past Luffy like he owned the place. He came to a stop in front of Ace and exclaimed, “ Ace Portgas! You really are much more handsome in person!”

“Uh...thank you.” Ace replied, scratching the back of his neck.

“I’ve seen all your movies. You deliver such extraordinary performances each time, tell me, how is one such as you related to this savage?” he gestured towards Luffy, who just stood there picking his nose.

Ace smiled at him.

“We’re much more alike than you think. Um...what’s your name?”

“Cavendish! Pleased to make your acquaintance!”

“Likewise. Friend of Luffy’s?”

“Friend of Law’s actually.”

“Oh. Well, I don’t mean to be rude but we were just about to head out and Law isn’t feeling well, so if you wanna come back lat-”

“I won’t hold you. I just came to see Law. Maybe after you return, you can give me your autograph?”

“Sure!”

At this, Ace walked out the door as Luffy held it open. Before he closed it though, Luffy looked at Cavendish and said in a meaningful tone , “Make sure he eats something.” 

Cavendish nodded and waved them off.

Luffy shut the door and they left.

  
  



	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter! Enjoy!

“Off to work?” Ace asked as he walked into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He slid into the chair he occupied the day before, slumping onto the counter. Luffy was already dressed for work and was shoveling pancakes into his mouth while Law was lazily nibbling on an apple.

“Uh-huh.”

“When do you leave?”

“Whenever I’m done eating.”

Ace rolled his eyes at this and punched his brother’s arm.

“Try to be more punctual.”

“Shanks doesn’t mind.”

The doorbell rang and Luffy quickly ate what remained of his breakfast and handed the clean plate to Law, who then put it in the sink. He pocketed his phone and keys and stood on his tiptoes to peck Law on the cheek and then threw his arms around Ace’s neck for a short hug before hurrying towards the door. He opened the door and Nami, Vivi and Usopp entered. They exchanged hellos before Luffy brushed past them, throwing a goodbye over his shoulder at Ace and Law before disappearing down the corridor.

“Hey guys,” Ace greeted the trio, “What are you doing here so early?”

“We came to talk to you about the party,” Nami replied. “I have arrangements to make and they include you. And Torao.”

“Me?” Law asked, seeming puzzled.

“Yes, you.” Nami said with an underlying hint of irritation in her voice. Ace scowled.

“It’s like 8:00 in the morning. Can’t this wait? I just dragged myself out of bed to see off Luffy.”

“There’s a lot to be done and we wanted to do it as quickly as possible. We’re sorry for any inconveniences we cause you Ace.” Vivi said sweetly enough to make Ace regret his tone.

“Yeah, um, sure. What do you need?” Ace said, moving from the kitchen island to the living room where the other three were seated. Nami waved Law over and gestured to him to sit next to Usopp. She placed a stack of-were those catalogues?-on the coffee table and opened one. Vivi had a sketchbook in her lap.

“We wanted you to finalize your outfit. That way we can hand over the designs to the tailor so your clothes will be ready on time.” 

“Um, that’s really nice of you guys and everything, but I don’t need a custom made suit or anything. Unless…” He paused, looking between them. “Do I?”

“There is a dress code for the party, and Luffy wanted you to wear the best.” Vivi replied. 

“Don’t worry man, it won’t be just you. Everyone there will be dressed to the nines,” Usopp said, clearly attempting to placate him. His irritation must be showing on his face then.

“A _dress code_ . For _Luffy’s birthday_.” He repeated, staring at them like they had lost their minds.

Nami sighed exasperatedly.

“I knew it. He didn’t tell you a thing, did he?” she asked.

“Only that he was having a big celebration this year and basically demanded that me and Sabo be there.”

Vivi giggled into her palm and Nami clucked her tongue.

“This party isn’t just your typical average birthday party. It’s a celebration that’s going to be hosted by Shanks in his mansion and many of his organization’s donors will be attending. So yes, there’s a dress code.” Nami explained.

Ace’s jaw dropped. He tried, in vain, to process everything that he had just been told.

_Why would the welfare organization that Luffy worked for be throwing him a huge party?_

“Because Shanks really appreciates the hard work Luffy puts in and yes, he is this nice to all of his employees.” Nami said as if she could read his mind.

But Luffy hadn’t told him any of this and Ace resolved to kick his ass for it.

“So,” Nami started, getting straight to business, “any colors you like in particular?”

“I really liked that suit you wore to the Oscars last year,” Vivi added. 

Nami flipped through the catalog and began to show him various designs. “I also have some designs picked out that I thought would look really good on you.”

_Screw this. It’s way too early in the morning for this shit._

“You guys can pick out whatever you think is best. I don’t really care,” Ace said, itching to retreat to his room and call Sabo.

Nami set the catalog down and exchanged a glance with Vivi. They paused for a second before Vivi spoke up, “Well, if that’s how you feel, Luffy mentioned he really wanted his clothes to match yours and Sabo’s. Would that be okay with you?”

“Sure. Whatever.”

Vivi opened up her sketchbook and began sketching something and Nami hunched over as they began to whisper about custom made wear and all that. Usopp was immersed in a game on his phone and Law looked to be deep in thought about something.

Ace stood up to go call Sabo and just as he neared his room, he heard Law ask in a very hushed voice, “...Am I really going to the party?” 

Ace froze in his tracks.

Law sounded like he didn’t believe it. What was his deal anyway? He’s Luffy’s boyfriend, of course he would be invited to his birthday.

“Yes,” Nami answered in a tone so quiet Ace could barely hear. “And he’s already picked what you’re gonna wear. Don’t make a big deal out of this.”

Ace ignored the way his stomach twisted, the way it always did whenever he felt a sense of dread.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


“They _are_ a welfare organization, Ace. They throw parties to collect donations all the time, it’s what they do. Maybe Luffy’s boss does the same for other employees if they work hard enough.” Sabo explained. “But lately, it just feels like Luffy’s been keeping secrets from us. I wonder why.”

“I know, but he acts the same as ever. Let’s not overthink this.” Ace said in an attempt to console his brother. 

“Hey, do you think that maybe this has something to do with Law?”

“Um. No? It doesn’t seem like it at least. He didn’t seem too enthusiastic about it either.”

“Maybe I should do a little background check on him.”

“Sabo, don’t do that. We don’t want Luffy to get upset with us.”

“Like you have the tools to do a background check.” Koala added, “if you’re so worried, just check his social media. That can tell alot about a person. I can do it for you if you like.”

“Fine,” Sabo conceded. “Can you tell me his full name?”

“I don’t actually know. I could text you later though?” Ace offered.

“Okay…” A pause. Then: “Ace? I’m really worried about Luffy.”

“Don’t be. I’m here. I’ll look after him.”

“I know you will.” Ace could hear the smile in his voice. “I have to get back to work now. Later.”

“Later.”

* * *

  
  


Luffy’s friends were still there.

Ace wondered why they couldn’t draw and flip through magazines at their own house, but this wasn’t his apartment, so it's not like he could complain.

Usopp was still playing on his phone and Law was reading a thick tome. Ace took a soda from the fridge and sat next to Law.

“So, what’cha got there?” he asked.

Law closed the book to show him the front cover.

“Surgery,” he said by way of explanation. Ace nodded.

“You want to be a surgeon?”

Yes,” Law replied after a while. “I want to be a surgeon someday.”

“That’s pretty cool. Medical school is really tough you know. That stuff isn’t for everyone, but with some hard work, I don’t see why you can’t do it.”

Law stared hard at him and Ace wondered if he said anything wrong. 

“Thanks.” he said eventually, even though it didn’t sound like he meant it at all.

“Sure.”

Law went back to reading and Ace just swirled the soda can, bored out of his mind.

With nothing else to do, Ace grabbed the remote to watch TV, settling on some sitcom he hadn’t seen before and eventually, he dozed off.

He woke up a few hours later to the sound of plates and cutlery clinking. He cracked his eyes open to see everyone sitting around the kitchen island having lunch. His stomach growled but for whatever reason he didn’t feel like having lunch with everyone today. His eyes slipped shut and he tried to go back to sleep, figuring he’ll just have lunch when everyone leaves. He was about to doze off again when someone’s phone started ringing. 

He opened his eyes just in time to see Nami pull her phone out of her pocket.

“It’s Luffy.” she announced, sliding her finger across the screen to answer the call.

“Hello? Yeah. Yeah, he’s here. Just a sec.” She held out the phone to Law. “He wants to talk to you.”

Law took the phone from her and held it to his ear.

“Hey. So I hear. No, I didn’t see it yet. Okay, I’ll ask her. When are you coming home? Yeah, okay. Love you too. Bye.”

He hung up and Nami snatched the phone from him. 

“Just making sure you don’t try anything,” Usopp told him.

Law resumed eating in silence, but Ace could see him give them a dark look when they weren’t looking, too busy in whatever conversation they were having.

Ace himself also felt that something wasn’t right with that whole exchange.

“Why didn’t Luffy just call you?” he asked Law.

They all went silent and whirled around to face him, looking startled. Ace assumed they hadn’t noticed he was awake. Ace stood up and walked towards him, waiting for an answer.

“Well?” he asked, and he could feel everyone’s eyes on him.

“I don’t have a phone.” Law spoke.

“You...don’t have a phone?” That struck him as out of the ordinary. Who didn’t own a phone in this day and age?

“No.” Law clarified.

Ace wasn’t sure if he should ask why or just leave it at that, and before he could make a decision, Vivi addressed him.

“He lost it a couple of weeks ago. I guess he hasn’t found a replacement yet.”

Ace opened his mouth to ask Nami what she meant by her comment earlier, but before he could Usopp was shoving a plate piled with food in his hands.

“Here man. Eat up! Law’s a decent cook and you must be hungry.”

Ace couldn’t argue with that, even though he felt like he should probably press the issue some more. He thanked Law for the meal and took a seat next to him. The rice and vegetable stir fry was delicious and the others went back to eating as he ate as well.

  
  


Ace’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out to see there was a message from Sabo.

_Did you get it?_

Ace had forgotten all about his earlier conversation with Sabo. He leaned into Law and asked,

“What’s your full name dude?”

They all went rigid and silent once again, and Ace was beginning to think they didn’t like when he spoke to Law.

This time though, Law seemed to be equally as confused as Ace. He also seemed to be scrutinizing Nami, Vivi and Usopp, as though he were trying to figure out why they reacted the way that they did.

Nami was the first to break the silence.

“Why do you want to know?” she asked, leaning back in her seat and twirling her fork between her fingers.

“So I can add him on Facebook…?” Ace replied tentatively. He couldn’t figure out why everyone was trying to defend Law. Maybe Luffy had asked them to? 

Before anyone could say anything else though, the front door flew open and Luffy walked in.

“Hey everyone~!” he greeted, throwing his arms up.

“Luffy!” his friends exclaimed and rushed over to greet him.

“He’s already back.” Law said under his breath and the way he said it made Ace think it wasn’t meant for his ears. After all, Law didn’t seem too pleased.

Luffy broke away from his friends and approached Law with open arms. 

“I’m home.” he said, beaming at him. Law smiled back at him.

“Welcome home,” he replied softly as Luffy took him into his arms for a kiss.

“Hi,” Ace offered lamely as soon as they broke apart.

“Hi! How was your day?”

“Eh. Didn’t really do much. Yours?”

“It was fun!”

Law began to clear the counter and Luffy slid into his now vacant seat. His friends all decided to call it a day and head home but before they left, Vivi tore two pages from her sketchbook and handed one each to him and Law. It was the sketch she had made of his attire for the party.

Ace put it on the counter, not really interested.

Luffy began talking about his day, listing off all the tasks he completed and all the people he helped.

He spoke in detail about a young girl that had been found abandoned in her home a few days ago, starving to death. Because of her circumstances she had initially been very withdrawn, but Luffy was able to form a connection with her and bring her out of her shell.

“Her name is Tama. She reminds me a lot of you.”

“Oh? How so?”

“I don’t know. Something about the way she smiles.”

Luffy’s smile dimmed and he looked down at the counter top, a sort of intensity in his gaze.

“I was thinking of adopting her.”

Ace almost choked on his food. To say he was shocked would be an understatement. He felt as if someone had pulled out the ground underneath him.

“ Luffy, I...I'm not so sure about that. Taking care of a child as social work is one thing and being a parent is another. Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“I know. I just…” He took a deep breath. “I just want to be like you. I want to be to her what you and Sabo are to me. Shanks says he thinks I can do it.”

Ace was at a loss for words. His brother was only 19 years old and was nowhere near responsible and mature enough to be raising a child, especially one with a history of abuse.

Luffy reached out and took his hand. His eyes blazed with determination.

“I can do it,” he said, “I can be the home she needs.”

_That’s not enough,_ he wanted to say. He knew it wouldn’t be, but he also knew from the look in his eyes that Luffy wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Not that he needed Ace’s permission to do anything. It was only his approval he wanted.

Ace glanced at Law, who at some point had wandered into the living room, still clutching the page Vivi gave him. He was watching Luffy with a sort of bewildered and cautious gaze. They met eyes and Ace silently willed him to say something.

Law remained silent. Ace mentally cursed at him.

“If this is what you want,” Ace conceded reluctantly. His stomach was doing that twisty thing again.

“It is! You’ll love her, I promise!” Luffy exclaimed, clearly happy that his brother was on board with his decision.

Law chose that moment to step forward. 

“You must be tired. Want to go lie down?” he asked, offering his hand to Luffy.

“Yeah! I’m beat.” 

He took Law’s hand and began pulling him towards the bedroom. As soon as Luffy’s back was to them, Law handed the page in his hand to Ace and let himself be dragged away.

Ace let out a long sigh and held his head in his hand, practically beside himself with worry. He had to trust that Luffy knew what he was doing, but it still felt like this wasn’t a wise decision. He ran his fingers through his hair to pull it out of his face and let his eyes absentmindedly roam the page in his hand. He saw it then. 

There, on the bottom corner, in fresh ink, was a name scribbled haphazardly : Law Trafalgar.

* * *

  
  


Law massaged Luffy’s back, carefully kneading out all the knots in his muscles. Luffy sighed happily into his pillow and reached back to loop an arm around Law’s neck to drag him down beside him. 

Law hesitantly shifted into Luffy’s embrace.

“Were you serious about what you said to your brother earlier?” he asked. “About that little girl. You want her here?”

“Of course. She needs a home, and I know we can give her one.”

“But...this isn’t going to be like Robin and Toko...is it?”

Luffy snapped an eye open to look at him.

“What’s wrong with Robin and Toko?” he replied, malice in his voice.

Law willed his racing heart to calm.

“I just...I don’t know if I can do this.” he whispered, trying his best to choose his words wisely. “I’ve never done anything like this before…”

Luffy smiled, caressing Law’s face.

“Don’t worry. I know you can do this.”

“But-”

“You _can_ and you _will_. It’ll be fine. You’re amazing Torao. I know we’ll be the perfect family.”

_No_ , Law despaired. _Please no._

Outwardly, he smiled and cupped Luffy’s face as he pressed his lips to his hair.

“Thank you for believing in me,” he said sweetly and Luffy’s answering smile affirmed that he was out of the water for the time being.

Their fingers intertwined and Luffy slept, leaving Law to watch the rays of the sun slowly disappear until the room was engulfed in darkness.

He preferred it that way. In the darkness, he could imagine that he was alone.

  
  


_I won’t let you win,_ he thought resolutely. _Not this time._

  
  


After all, it was always easier for him to pretend that he had courage when he couldn’t see the monster’s face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm interested in hearing what you made of the story so far!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait.
> 
> This will be the last boring chapter, I promise. Everything important will start from the next chapter.

It had been impossible for Ace to sleep that night.

He tossed and turned relentlessly, trying in vain to shut out all thoughts of the day’s events. He was tired and his pounding head demanded that he sleep, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t get his mind to stop thinking about Luffy.

It was just like him to impulsively do something this stupid. Well no, not stupid. Adopting a child because you want to give them a good home is a noble thing to do. But if you were 19 and a reckless idiot, it was stupid. It had always been his and Sabo’s job as his older brothers to watch his back and make sure he doesn’t do this kind of shit, and yet Ace had given in so easily. He felt like he was letting Luffy down in some way. It was making him feel like shit, so when dawn rolled around, he gave up on his futile efforts to sleep and dragged himself to the bathroom for a hot shower. He contemplated calling Sabo, but his brother was already sick with worry, and maybe Ace should try talking Luffy out of it one more time before he told Sabo.

As he dressed himself in a black henley and green cargo shorts, he noticed the screen of his phone illuminate with a notification.

It was a message from Sabo:

_ You awake? There’s something I have to tell you. _

Ace glanced at the clock in the corner of his screen. 5:27 AM. His brother sure was up early.

_ I’m up. _

Almost immediately, his phone started ringing.

“Hey. Why are you up so early?” he said.

“I could ask you the same thing,”Sabo replied. “But just so you don’t keep asking, I’m heading to the office early today so I can finish everything I’m working on so Dragon will give me time off to come visit. Anyways, I had to tell you something.”

“I’m listening.”

“Law Trafalgar doesn’t have an online presence. He doesn’t have any accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, you name it. I didn’t find that too weird. I figured he’s probably not that into social media. But then I decided to go through Luffy’s accounts. Get this: There are no pictures or any mentions of him anywhere. This is Luffy we’re talking about. He loves taking pictures. He has pictures of everyone on there. How could he not have a single picture of the guy who’s been living with him for three months? So of course this is where I start panicking. I started going through everyone else’s profiles. Nami, Robin, Usopp, Franky, Sanji, Brook...none of them have a single picture of Law.”

“He probably doesn’t hang out with them much.”

“I don’t think Luffy would date a guy who wouldn’t want to hang out with his friends.”

“I mean...they don’t seem to like each other much. Nami, Vivi and Usopp were here yesterday and they practically ignored him the whole time. Nami even got pissed when he held onto her phone for two seconds more than he was supposed to.”

“Why was he even holding on to her phone?”

“Luffy wanted to talk to him.”

“On her phone?”

“Yeah, Law doesn’t have one.”

“..............”

“......Sabo?”

“He doesn’t have a  _ phone _ ?”

“Not right now, at least. He lost his old one and needs to get a replacement.”

“That’s just fishy.”

Ace rolled his eyes because of course Sabo would think that. He probably should tell Sabo about the girl before he found out on his own, because then Ace would be toast along with Luffy.

“Nevermind that. Listen, Luffy said something crazy yesterday.”

“What’s new about that?”

“....He’s adopting a child.”

“ _ What?! _ ”

“Yeah. He just came home from work and started telling me all about this girl and how he wanted to do something good for her an-”

“And what did you say?!”

“What  _ could _ I say? I said it wasn’t a good idea, and that he’s not ready, but he wouldn’t give in.”

“You didn’t say yes though did you?”

“I mean….yeah. It’s not like it’s my choice what he does with his life.”

“Ace! How _ could _ you? No. I’m gonna call him. He can’t do this! He’s only a kid! He can’t even take care of a pet.”

“I already said all these things but go ahead. I couldn’t sleep all night because of this.”

“I won’t be able to keep a clear head today either. And to think I was worried about Law. Didn’t he object to this?”

“No. He didn’t say a word.”

“Great. Just great. I’m about to have a great day, that’s for sure.”

“I know what you mean. Listen, I’ll try talking to him again. Maybe if his friends back me up, he’ll change his mind.”

“And if he doesn’t, I’m going to have at him.”

“Yeah, you do that.”

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The shower hadn’t helped soothe his pounding head, not that he expected it to. His body also ached with exhaustion, he wanted to throw up, and he just felt like crap.

When it was almost 7:00, he dragged himself into the kitchen to make breakfast. It was around the time Luffy would be waking up and Ace decided he would make him his favorite pancakes, hoping it would help gain his favor a little. He was going to talk to Luffy during breakfast so that if he failed he could sic Sabo on him later.

As he searched the cabinets for ingredients, he heard the creak of Luffy’s door opening. He turned to see Law walking out, his steps barely audible. He didn’t look well rested at all, even though he knows they went to bed early that night. He was rubbing at his eyes, looked white as a ghost and the bags under his eyes just seemed to get heavier everyday. In short, despite sporting a rather cute bedhead, Law looked just as bad as Ace himself felt. When their eyes met, Law froze in the middle of the hallway, a few steps away from his door.

_ He must be surprised to see me up so early. _

Ace grinned and gave him a mock salute.

“Mornin’,” he greeted. Law just stood there staring at him. “Do you guys have cinnamon? Also, where do you keep your whisk?” he asked, taking the box of pancake mix and placing it on the counter.

“It’s…” Law started, only to stop and whip his neck back to look at Luffy’s closed door. He turned back to Ace just as quickly and said, “Listen, do you know about m-”

“Whatcha doin’ Torao~” a sweet voice singsonged, as familiar to Ace as the back of his hand.

He hadn’t even seen when Luffy had opened the door.

Ace didn’t think that he had ever seen his brother wear that expression before though. He was smiling, though his eyes seemed….angry?

Law’s lips twisted downwards before he pursed them, letting his gaze fall to the floor.

“Just telling Ace where the cinnamon is.” he answered quietly, looking oddly crestfallen.

“Oh! Ace is making pancakes?” he asked, the excitement in his voice palpable.

“Yeah,” Ace responded, still a bit weirded out, “blueberry and cinnamon.”

“My favorite!” 

Luffy ran past Law and took a seat, practically salivating all over the counter.

Law walked in more slowly, retrieving the whisk and cinnamon Ace had asked for.

“Quit drooling like a dog, Luffy! I haven’t even started yet. Go take a shower or something.” Ace scolded, his weariness making him more irritable than usual.

Luffy looked deep in thought at this. He scratched his head while frowning before his face lit up into a smile again.

“Okay!” he exclaimed, running out just as fast as he came. 

Ace wasn’t expecting him to grab Law by the wrist and roughly pull him along.

“H-hey-” Law said, sounding like he hadn’t expected it either.

“Come on, Torao. Ace says it’s time to shower!”

_ Oh jeez. _

_ My little brother really needs to learn some manners,  _ Ace thought as the door swung shut once more.

* * *

  
  
  


“So, listen,” Ace began, clearing his throat nervously.

_ Don’t be nervous. You got this. You're the boss. _

Luffy continued to stuff food in his mouth, his face caked in syrup and bits of pancake. Law looked like he was about to keel over.

“About what you said...the adoption? I was hoping you’d think it over one more time, and then maybe we can talk it over with Sabo an-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Luffy waved it off, “I knew you’d overthink it, so I called Robin and Franky. They’re coming over today to talk to you.”

Ace gaped at him.

“To...To talk to _ me _ ?” he asked, incredulous.

“Yeah. About their experience adopting a kid.”

“What the hell?”

_ So much for getting them to back him up. _

“You’re missing the entire point.” he grit out, feeling anger seep into his mind, “This has nothing to do with me or them!” Why was this so difficult for him to understand?

Ace felt like he was talking to a brick wall. He stabbed his fork into his pancakes with more force than necessary, trying to remember every anger management session he ever had.

He took deep breaths and counted to ten slowly.

“I really did think this through Ace,” Luffy spoke before he could. “I make decent money. She’s eight years old, so it’s not like I have to spoon feed her or change her diapers. She’ll be at school half of the day anyway and she and I get along really well.”

Luffy paused to drop his fork and reached across the table to hold Ace’s hand.

“It’s not like I’m trying to be her dad. I didn’t have a dad. I only had two brothers and that was all I ever needed. I can be that for her.”

Ace narrowed his eyes at him. If Luffy thought he could get out of this just by kissing his ass, he had another thing coming.

“Besides, It’s not like I’m doing this alone. I have Torao to help me. Right Torao?”

“Right,” Law replied, still looking like someone had pulled him out of his grave and forced him to join the living.

Ace had had enough.

“ _ Listen _ , Luffy,” he snapped as he abruptly stood up, “I don’t know what kind of game you think you’re playing here, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to just sit around while you make these stupid decisio-”

“No,  _ you _ listen.” Luffy interrupted, standing up to glare back at his brother. “I’m free to live the life I want to live and do what I want to do!”

_ What the hell kind of self righteous bullshit is that!  _

His ire from earlier just kept growing and growing and he fought back the urge to throw the first punch, curling his finger into a fast by his side instead.

There was a knock at the door and for a while no one moved to answer it until Luffy grabbed a napkin and roughly wiped his face with it before stomping to the door, throwing it open, and storming out past whoever was there.

Ace remained as he was, glaring at the space Luffy had been in as Robin and Franky entered.

* * *

  
  
  


“Isn’t she  _ super _ cute?” Franky asked as he shoved a picture of his adopted daughter into Ace’s face for the twentieth time.

In the picture, Robin and Franky’s daughter, Toko, smiled brilliantly as her new parents hugged her from either side. They told him about how she had been sold into child labor by her father since he was too poor to make ends meet. Ace found it remarkable that such a young girl was able to find the fortitude to smile so brightly after everything she had been through.

“This was on her first day of school. Because of her circumstances, she had never been before, but she was excited to meet her teachers and make new friends!” Franky exclaimed.

“I’m glad you were able to give her the life she deserves,” Ace said.

“There are others like her,” Robin explained, sipping from a cup of coffee Law had made for her. “Children who don’t have families or homes, or the childhood they deserve.” She gently placed the cup on the coffee table. “I’m sure you understand how important it is that we give them what they have lost, and that we encourage others to do so.”

Ace had a feeling he knew where this was going.

“Has Luffy told you how they found Tama?” she continued.

“Yes.”

“They’ve made quite a connection, those two. You know, it’s...it’s hard to explain. Franky and I had never discussed having children. You see, neither of us had really thought about it. But, when we first saw her….we just knew. We just knew that we had to have her.”

Franky placed his hand on her thigh, and she squeezed it with her own. They turned to look at one another and smiled.

The sound of something breaking in the kitchen snapped them out of their trance. 

Ace walked up to Law to see what had happened. He was crouched on the floor, surrounded by shards of broken glass and he had clutched one in his palm so tightly that it had cut through the skin, rivulets of blood cascading onto the floor.

“Hey,” Ace called but stopped short when he saw Law’s expression. Disgusted was the only way he could describe it. Disgusted...and maybe angry.

“It’s okay,” Ace said softly, trying to console him, “we all break things. Here, let me help.”

Law seemed to catch himself, and shot up from the floor. 

“No, it's fine, I got it,” he said, making his way to the sink to wash his bleeding palm.

Ace left him alone and returned to Robin and Franky, who were watching Law warily.

“He just dropped a glass,” Ace said by way of explanation. “As I was saying before, I understand that he wants to do a good thing. I know this girl deserves a home. I’m just saying Luffy is a teenager. There are many things he has to learn before he can take a responsibility as huge as this. You and Franky are both grown adults who are much better equipped to take care of a child. My brother can’t even take care of himself. That’s always been my job. Mine and Sabo’s.”

Franky and Robin were quiet as they considered this.

“I hope it’s not asking for too much, but I was hoping you could do so as well. I want you-I want all of his friends-to look out for him. He’s a handful, I know. Nothing but trouble, and incredibly stubborn. So please, ask him to reconsider. Don’t let him make reckless decisions.”

Franky and Robin exchanged a glance.

“I think he’s made his decision, Ace-bro. And I think he’s made the right one too. There isn’t anything Luffy can’t do. You might not know him as well as you think.” Franky remarked.

Ace felt the irritation from before returning. He was just so tired.

“Of course I know him. Sabo and I raised him, you know. Since he was a baby, and we were left at Dadan’s place. I have  _ always _ watched over my little brother.”

Robin smirked at this and lifted her cup to her lips once more.

“Yes,” she replied. “Just like you watched over him when he nearly died scared and alone in Flevance.”

Ace’s eyes widened and he saw red.

_ She...how _ **_dare_ ** _ she- _

Ace stood up at the same time as Franky, who moved in front of his wife to protect her. Ace didn’t let this deter him one bit and swung his arm back to throw his fist at his face. Franky dodged, but Ace swiftly uppercutted him with his other arm. Franky staggered backwards and Robin caught onto his arm to steady him. 

She turned her steely gaze towards him and before he could do anything he would regret, he spun on his heel and stormed out the apartment, slamming the door behind him as loudly as he could.

* * *

Law watched as Ace left, the door slamming hard enough to rattle the hinges. He turned towards Robin and said, “That was cruel.”

She met his gaze and replied, in a tone dripping with venom, “but necessary. I won’t allow anyone to stand in Luffy’s way, Torao. Keep that in mind.”

* * *

  
  


For the next three days, Luffy stayed home with them. Ace barely left his room, choosing instead to distance himself to calm down. He brought his meals to his room and didn’t say a word to Luffy. His little brother looked sad, and he knew he was overreacting, but Ace’s anger was fueled by his guilt. He hadn’t shown up to Flevance, and he would never forgive himself for it. Once or twice, Law had attempted to talk to him while Luffy slept, but Ace had shut him down and made it clear he didn’t want to be spoken to. 

He felt guilty about that too.

It was Friday, the day before Luffy’s party, that Ace had decided he would make amends with his brother. He approached his brother’s door and as he lifted his arm to knock, he heard his brother’s voice from inside.

“....beautiful as always,” he was saying. “Tomorrow’s a big day, Torao. And I don’t just mean that because it’s my birthday, shishishi.”

“What are you talking about?” That was Law.

“You’ll see. It’s a surprise for you. And my brothers too.”

“...I see.”

“You’ll finally get to meet Shanks! Aren’t you excited!”

“Of course. I hope he’ll be just as happy to see me.”

“He will be. He’s been wanting to meet you forever you know. And Ace and Sabo. He knows how much you all mean to me.”

There was no response. Ace felt ashamed for eavesdropping, but he was rooted to the spot.

After a while, Luffy spoke up.

“Torao. You do love me, don’t you?”

“O-of course, I do.”

“You mean it?”

“Yes.”

“Good. You should get some rest, tomorrow’s a big day.”

There were no more sounds after that and Ace figured he should talk to his brother before he falls asleep, but before his knuckles could meet the wooden door, there was a knock on the other side of the apartment. From the front door.

Ace practically flew there to answer it, so Luffy wouldn’t open his door and see him standing there. 

Ace threw the door open, and met the blue eyes of his brother.

“Sabo?!” 

Sabo wasn’t supposed to come until the morning.

“Ace. We need to talk. Something’s wrong.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait!

“Ace. We need to talk. Something’s wrong.”

Ace stared at him, his mind working to process his sudden presence. 

“Ace? Who’s at the door?” Luffy asked from behind him. Ace maneuvered so that Sabo would be in Luffy’s line of sight. 

“SABO!!!” 

Luffy launched himself at Sabo, who welcomed him with open arms, causing them both to fall to the floor in an exact replay of the way he greeted Ace almost a week ago.

“I’m so glad you came!” Luffy exclaimed, rubbing his cheek against Sabo’s. “I’ve missed you so much!”

“I’ve missed you too, little brother!” Sabo replied, nuzzling Luffy with equal enthusiasm.

Ace sighed and shook his head fondly. He gathered Sabo’s suitcases and carried them into his room. There were only two bedrooms so he figured Sabo would be sharing with him.

He dumped all his stuff on the bed and walked out to drag his brothers inside. On the way, he noticed Law leaning against the door to his bedroom, watching Luffy and Sabo.

“Get your asses in here,” Ace snapped at them. Luffy stayed as he was, arms and legs wrapped around Sabo, but Sabo pulled himself off the floor and walked inside, effortlessly carrying his brother’s weight too. Luffy must have noticed Law watching them, so he disentagled himself from Sabo and ran to him.

“Torao! Come on, you have to meet my brother!” he was saying, pulling Law with him.

Ace glanced at Sabo to ask about what he had to tell him, but Sabo merely shook his head as if to say ‘Not now.’

Law followed Luffy, his steps almost shy, and Luffy practically thrust him forward to Sabo.

“This is Sabo!” he introduced, “my other brother.”

“Hi. I’m-”

“Law. Luffy’s boyfriend, I know.” Sabo interrupted him, taking Law’s hand in his own and pulling him towards the couch in the living room. “I’ve heard all about you!”

Luffy and Law both glanced at Ace at this, and Ace scowled at the blond. He had forgotten that Sabo derived enjoyment from embarrassing him.

“I hear you’re the reason my brother is alive,” Sabo began, pulling Law down to sit next to him leaving Ace and Luffy to take the opposite couch, “ I must thank you for it. Your kindness not only saved his life, but spared me the pain of losing my brother. I can’t imagine losing either of them. They're my most precious treasure, you see. You have my gratitude, Law.”

Law, Luffy and Ace all flushed with embarrassment. 

“It-It was nothing,” Law stuttered, “I’m sure anyone in my position would have done the same.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Sabo replied, flashing a smile at him. “Don’t be so modest.”

“Yeah, Torao! You’re amazing!” Luffy added, laughing.

“Thank you,” Law told Sabo, a tiny smile on his face. Ace had seen him smile before, but this one seemed more genuine than the others.

“So, Law. Tell me more about yourself. I know you met Luffy in Flevance. Is that where you’re from?”

“It is. I’ve lived there my whole life.”

“Flevance is a long way from here. You must be homesick.”

“I’ve only been here a couple months. It’s not so bad.”

“What do you do?”

“Torao wants to be a surgeon!” Luffy exclaimed proudly.

“Oh? So you go to school?” Sabo asked.

“He was going to, but then he couldn’t.” Luffy said.

“Why not?” Sabo asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well….some stuff came up, and so I missed my chance.” Law replied, looking at his lap.

Sabo leaned closer to him until their faces were only inches apart. He hummed under his breath, studying Law closely.

“So you moved a couple thousand miles away and gave up a chance to go to school? You must love my brother _a lot_.”

Ace heard Luffy murmur the words “Meant to be,” under his breath. He rolled his eyes and threw a cushion at him. 

“Oh shut up,” he said, dodging as Luffy attempted to hit back in retaliation.

“Acey, Lu. I’m trying to talk to Law here, if you guys have so much energy, use it for something helpful and get me something to eat. I’m starving, I slept through the meal on the plane.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” Ace teased, crossing his arms and leaning back into the couch. Sabo simply sighed and muttered, “You never learn,” before calmly reaching behind himself to throw a cushion at Ace, hitting him square in the face.

“Okay, okay!” he relented, getting up and dragging a giggling Luffy with him, “Jeez.”

The two made their way into the kitchen to raid the fridge for leftovers. As they heated the rice and chicken meal they had prepared, Ace playfully shoved Luffy to get his attention.

“I’m sorry for being a dick these past few days,” he apologized. “I’m also sorry about hitting Franky like that.”

Luffy beamed at him and threw his arms around him in a hug.

“It’s okay,” he breathed into Ace’s neck. “Don’t worry about Franky. He said it was a fight between men.”

Ace figured that was exactly the kind of macho thing Franky would say after being assaulted.

“So, what did you do to earn money?” they heard Sabo ask from the living room.

“I mostly helped my parents around the hospital.” Law answered.

“So your parents own a hospital? Must be why you want to be a doctor. But, don’t you need to be a medical professional of some kind to work at a hospital?”

“Yes, bu-”

“So how did you earn money?”

“Well, I...I mostly did some odd jobs here and there.”

“Like what?”

“Well…..”

“Oh, sorry my bad. Of course you can’t tell me. It wouldn’t do your pal Doflamingo any good if his men just told everyone about how they torture, blackmail and kill people.”

Law and Luffy both froze. 

“What?” Ace asked at the same time that Luffy bolted from the kitchen to stand at Law’s side. “What the hell?”

Sabo sighed and stood up, crossing his arms.

“I _know_ , Law.” he said simply, his tone carrying a hint of anger.

“It’s not like that!” Law insisted, also getting to his feet. Luffy gripped his elbow protectively.

“Sabo,” he hissed, a clear warning.

“Cut the crap, Law. I’m an investigative journalist. I’ve helped expose tons of corrupt officers, companies and low life criminals like you. I know everything about the infamous Donquixote Family. Of course I do, they're the most influential gang in the North Blue state!”

Luffy stepped in front of Law and glared at his brother.

“Torao doesn’t work for Mingo!” he yelled. “He hates him. You don’t know anything, Sabo!”

“You’re mistaken, Sabo. I never have and never will work for trash like Doflamingo.” Law said in his defense, attempting to subtly push Luffy to the side. Luffy didn’t budge, of course.

He shook his head angrily, and said to his brother, “You guys never change.”

Ace winced. Luffy sounded disappointed. 

“Luffy,” Sabo said, attempting to soothe his brother, “I have proof that he has ties to them! I’m not just saying this to piss you off.”

“He has a history with them, yes, I know, Torao told me everything. It’s done, it’s in the past and he doesn't have to explain anything to you!” Luffy lashed out. “Come on, Torao. Let’s just go.”

Ace watched as Luffy led Law to their room, slamming the door shut behind them.

Sabo stood in the middle of the living room, lost and dejected.

Ace sighed as he plated the now heated food.

“Come on,” he told Sabo, softly nudging him towards their room.

* * *

  
  


Sabo watched as Ace thumbed through the reports on his phone, squinting in concentration.

“Where did you get this?” he asked, eyes still glued to the screen.

“After I failed to find any social media accounts, Koala suggested that we just do a simple search to see if he has a criminal history. So she hacked into the Flevance Police Department’s files and the first thing she found was that.”

It was an incomplete report about an arrest that was made in Spider Miles, a small town not far from Flevance. It contained the names of the people arrested for a drug deal between the Donquixote Family and another gang.

The list included Law Trafalgar, with a picture of him next to it.

“This report is 3 years old,” Ace stated, handing Sabo’s phone back to him. “Plus, he admitted that they had some history and Luffy said he already knows about it. Whatever it is, it can’t be a big deal since Luffy knows about it.”

Sabo frowned at him.

“Yes, but didn’t he sound a bit defensive to you?”

“Yeah, because you were attacking him,” his brother replied, unimpressed.

Sabo huffed and sprawled out under the covers. His line of work had sharpened his intuition and judgment, even Koala and his boss Dragon praised him for his instincts as he often led them to some vital piece of information they could use to expose their targets. He couldn’t quite place what it was, but for now, they were telling him Law Trafalgar was bad news, and Sabo had a duty to protect his brothers.

His innocent, simple minded brothers who probably had no idea what kind of shit goes on in the world.

“Sabo,” Ace started, breaking him out of his thoughts, “I know you probably don’t want to, but you should apologize to Law in the morning. It’s Luffy’s birthday tomorrow, and we don’t want to do anything to ruin it, do we? We came this far just for this special day. You don’t have to mean it, but just be nice to him for the day.”

Sabo inwardly bristled at having to fake an apology, but he knew Ace had a point.

“Fine,” he relented as Ace joined him in bed, “but just so you know, Koala’s still looking.”

“For dirt on Law? Man, I thought she was supposed to help keep you under control, not feed your madness.”

“Unlike you, she trusts my intuition and takes me seriously.”

“I _do_ take you seriously. It’s just, I’ve been thinking about something. Maybe we really are too much for Luffy to handle, you know? It _has_ been two years. And Luffy is doing fine for himself. We really don’t give him enough credit. Plus, you’re forgetting that I’ve spent most of the past week with Law, and other than a few things that were...weird, he seems like an okay guy. He cooks all of Luffy’s meals, cleans the house, does the laundry, and even gives Luffy massages when he’s tired. Maybe...you and I should back off, just this once.”

Sabo couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He turned to see if Ace was being serious, but found nothing but sincerity in his brother’s obsidian eyes. 

“You can’t be serious. Ace, this is his first relationship.”

“So?”

“So?!”

“Look, if you’re basing all your worries about Luffy on my relationship history, you can stop. Luffy is actually a much better judge of character than I am. It’s one of the things he’s got going for him. I mean, he’s made friends that are genuinely such good people. People who I wouldn’t have even looked twice at. I mean, I was on the same page as you initially, but after spending some time with Law, I have to admit he’s got a good head on his shoulders. Plus, he treats Luffy like a king. What more can a brother ask for?”

Sabo deadpanned at him.

“Well, except for the whole Tama thing,” Ace admitted. “They’re all okay with that.”

Sabo raised an eyebrow.

“Tama thing?” he asked.

“Yeah. The girl he wants to adopt.”

_UGH. I forgot all about that mess._

“I was supposed to talk to him about that…” Sabo murmured.

“And you will,” Ace replied, turning the bedside lamp off. “But not tomorrow. Okay?”

“Okay.”

The two of them nestled into the sheets, exhausted after a long day. Sabo glanced at his brother’s peaceful face, smiling as he drifted off.

* * *

  
  


Sabo loomed over Ace’s sleeping figure, grinning wide as he took in his brother’s drooling face before unceremoniously emptying a glass of cold water on him.

“Rise and shine, Acey!” he sang as Ace jolted upright, sputtering indignantly.

“Asshole!” he yelled.

Sabo shrugged. “You’ve been asleep forever. Come on, let’s go get breakfast.”

Ace reluctantly rose and followed Sabo to the kitchen, cussing him out the entire way there.

Sabo threw open the kitchen cabinets and withdrew the ingredients he needed while Ace flopped onto the kitchen island. Sabo threw a spoon at him.

“Ow!” Ace cried, wincing. “Why?”

“Get your lazy ass up. I’m not doing all the work myself you know.” Sabo griped.

Ace huffed at him and then stomped around the kitchen to the fridge, taking out eggs, onions, tomatoes…

“I’ve missed your omelettes,” Sabo said, hoping the compliment would cheer up his brother.

“Screw you,” Ace replied, placing everything on the counter and cutting the vegetables with much more force than necessary.

“Are you cranky?” Sabo teased.

“I hate you.”

Sabo broke into a bout of laughter then. 

His heart ached from the nostalgia this was causing. Back in Colbo, he and Luffy would tease Ace just like this. Ace was never a morning person, so it would only take a couple of prods before he was storming around the house throwing a tantrum.

_Has it really been two years?_

Sabo threw his arms around Ace and hugged him from behind.

“Never change,” he whispered.

The two of them worked in silence after that, the air around them filling with mouth watering scents. Predictably, Luffy walked out of the room, sniffing at the air.

“Food?” he asked, his eyes wide with hope.

“Food,” his brothers confirmed, smiling. “Happy birthday, Luffy!”

Luffy charged at them, tackling them to the floor in a hug.

* * *

  
  


Sabo watched as Ace and Luffy scarfed down their food, occasionally stealing from the other’s plate. He kept glancing between the clock and the plate of food he had set aside for Law. After ten minutes passed, he sighed and picked it up, intending on giving it to Law himself. Behind him, Ace and Luffy had fallen to the floor in a brawl over the last waffle.

He hesitantly approached and knocked on the door lightly, entering after hearing a soft, “Come in.”

Law was sitting on the bed reading what appeared to be a medical textbook of some sort.

“Morning,” Sabo greeted, moving to stand before Law. “I...I made you breakfast. As an apology. For last night.”

Law looked at him, and for a moment they just stared at each other in silence.

Finally, Law reached out and took the plate with a “Thank you.”

Sabo sat on the edge of the bed, close to Law’s feet.

“You shouldn’t read in the dark,” he admonished.

“I’m used to it.”

Sabo simply tsked at him, and stood up to draw the blinds and let some light in.

He almost wished he didn’t because he was sure those were dry tear tracks on Law’s face.

His heart sank and he felt horrible. 

_Was he crying because of me? Because of how I treated him?_

“I’m really sorry,” he choked out, feeling like he would drown in his guilt.

Law simply shook his head and gave a bitter smile. “It’s alright. I’m not angry or anything.”

Sabo felt torn between apologizing again and asking about what his relationship with Doflamingo was exactly.

_You’re here to protect Luffy. Don’t forget that._

Before he could say anything more, Luffy burst through the door, frantically looking between Law and Sabo.

“It’s okay,” Law told him. “He made me breakfast as an apology.”

“What are you saying to him?” Luffy blurted out so quickly that the words were hard to identify.

“I just said I was sorry,” Sabo said, lifting his hands in a placating manner.

“And what did he say?” Luffy asked, just as quickly.

“That he’s not angry.”

Luffy narrowed his eyes at him in scrutiny, trying to assess whether or not he was being lied to.

_What the hell is this about?_ Sabo thought, confused.

Law set his plate aside and reached out to gently caress Luffy’s arm, fingers trailing down his arm before entwining with his as he pulled him to the bed softly.

“It’s okay,” Law murmured. “Promise.”

Luffy studied him for a minute before he seemed appeased by the answer.

Sabo felt like he was intruding on an intimate moment and strode out the room, shutting the door behind him.

In the kitchen, Ace chewed on a waffle, happy with his little victory.

  
  


* * *

  
  


In the afternoon, Nami and Vivi came over, carrying bags full of clothes.

“Your clothes,” she said, handing some of the bags to Ace.

“What are in those other bags?” Ace asked.

“Luffy’s clothes, Law’s clothes, my clothes, Vivi’s clothes, our makeup, our sho-”

“Okay, okay, I get it.”

Nami and Vivi rushed into Luffy’s room after that, and Sabo could hear Nami yelling instructions at them through the door. He followed Ace back into their room, both of them figuring they had more than enough time to get dressed since they had to leave at dusk.

By the time they were supposed to leave, everyone was ready and had gathered in the living room waiting for their rides. Sabo noted that his clothes matched Ace and Luffy’s, their ensemble consisting of black trousers with black v necks, the only difference being the color of their jackets. Sabo’s was a navy blue, whereas Ace’s was a bright orange and Luffy’s a deep red.

Nami and Vivi looked beautiful as always, in a cerulean evening gown and pink cocktail dress respectively, but it was Law who really took the cake.

He looked nothing like the thin, deathly pale man with heavy eye bags he was first introduced to. No, the man that stood before him looked like he belonged on a runway. His trousers were charcoal gray, his turtleneck and coat black and his outfit was perfectly tailored to suit his tall slender figure. He looked radiant.

“Wow, Law. You look amazing.” Ace complimented, echoing his thoughts.

“He does, doesn’t he?” Luffy gushed, his gaze glued on Law and Sabo grinned at his brother’s delight.

Law looked down, obviously flustered by the spotlight.

The next few minutes were spent that way, Luffy telling Law how amazing he looks, Law smiling and nodding along, Sabo cooing at how adorable Luffy looked and Vivi and Nami taking pictures of themselves with Ace, probably to post online.

Sabo’s phone buzzed and he opened it to see a message from Koala.

_Found something on Law. Not sure what it is, still looking._

_Text me back when you know,_ Sabo replied.

The bell rang and Luffy raced to the door. 

“That’s our ride,” Nami said, packing her phone into her purse and standing up.

Luffy walked in followed by Zoro.

Sabo heard Law’s breath hitch.

Zoro smiled at them.

“Sup guys?”

“Hey Zoro,” Ace greeted. Nami and Vivi began filing out and Luffy took Law’s hand to lead him, but Law didn’t move.

He was frozen to the spot. Luffy frowned at him and tugged at his arm again, only to be met with the same result.

Law’s eyes were wide, staring straight at Zoro.

Finally, he spoke.

“Why is _he_ here?” he asked, vitriol in his voice.

“We’re going in his car,” Luffy answered him. When Law still didn’t move, Luffy tugged on his arm hard enough to pull it out of his socket.

Law hissed in pain, and Ace smacked Luffy on the back of his head.

“Be gentle, don’t hurt the guy!”

Luffy glared at him, and continued to pull Law along. Zoro fell in on Law’s other side, linking his arm with his as they walked out.

Sabo and Ace both exchanged a confused glance at this, but followed them out hastily.

As they walked through the lobby, Luffy waved at the receptionist who waved back at him.

“That’s Cavendish,” Ace told him, “A friend of Law’s.”

When they walked into the parking, Sabo was surprised to see Sanji there, waiting next to another car.

Luffy, Law, Vivi and Zoro piled into his car, but Nami halted Ace when he attempted to follow them.

“You guys are riding with Sanji and Pudding,” she explained before sitting in Zoro’s car and driving off.

“That was...weird,” Ace said, and Sabo couldn’t agree more.

Sanji blew out a line of smoke before throwing his cigarette onto the pavement and stepping on it.

“You guys coming or what?” he asked.

Ace and Sabo sat in, exchanged greetings with Sanji’s girlfriend Pudding, and then they too were off.

The entire drive there they conversed about the city, Ace asking questions about the beaches and the ports. Raftel was the first island they had ever been on, so it was natural that they were curious. Pudding and Sanji told them everything they wanted to know, pointing out tourist sites they passed and filling them in on the island’s history and local customs.

Eventually they pulled up to a huge gate and Sanji typed in a code for it to open.

They drove up to a mansion and Sanji parked, gesturing for them to get out.

Sabo took in the sight before him, and hesitantly followed them up the steps to the front door. His job required that he clash with many wealthy and privileged individuals and groups, but he still felt intimidated by rich people sometimes.

As if sensing his unease, Ace slung an arm around his shoulders. Sabo felt grateful for his brothers everyday.

As they entered, two men walked up to them and patted them down, searching for weapons.

“Make your way to the East Wing,” they informed them when they were finished.

Not knowing where to go exactly, they just let Sanji lead the way. He navigated around the huge mansion as if he had been here countless times.

_Weird that Sanji knows where exactly to go when he doesn’t even work for this man. Maybe he’s been to one of these parties before._

He stopped in front of a double door, throwing them open to reveal...utter chaos.

The room was dark save for the illumination provided by strobe lights, and Sabo had to shield his ears from the loud music.

This...looked a lot like a frat party.

Sanji and Pudding linked arms and walked in, disappearing in the throngs of dancing people.

“The hell?! Isn’t this guy supposed to be some respectable charity owner or something?!” Ace screeched, covering his ears as he made his way through the crowd, Sabo tightly gripping his orange jacket.

He hated this shit in college and he hated it now too.

The blaring music and flashing lights were going to give him a headache.

His phone was buzzing in his pocket but he couldn’t pick it up. It was way too loud.

Sabo searched for his little brother, his eyes scanning the room.

“Luffy!” Ace was shouting. “Luffy, where the _hell_ are you?!”

They bumped into a tall man with red hair who looked them over once before swooping them both up into a hug.

“What the hell dude!” Ace struggled against him.

“You must be Ace and Sabo! Anchor’s brothers! I’ve heard so much about you!” he exclaimed, breath reeking of alcohol.

“Are you Shanks?” Sabo asked.

“Bingo!” he replied, throwing an arm around each of them. “Let’s go see the birthday boy!”

Sabo’s phone buzzed again, but he ignored it because Shanks was too heavy to pry off.

Eventually they reached a sitting area at the far end of the room, where Luffy was sitting with his arms around Law and surrounded by his friends.

He smiled at them, but Shanks pulled them back to sit on either side of him, facing Luffy.

“Wow,” he said, face inches away from Ace’s, “you and Anchor look _alot_ alike.”

“We are brothers, you know.” Ace replied, amused at the drunk man’s antics.

“And you look alot like him,” Shanks addressed Sabo now, pointing at Ace.

His phone was buzzing again, so he just replied with, “Is there a bathroom here? I need to take this call.”

“Suuuuure~” Shanks said, gesturing towards a door not far from where they were. “Hurry back~!”

Sabo walked towards the bathroom, sighing from relief as soon as he was inside.

He opened his phone. As he suspected, all three missed calls were from Koala.

There was a file she had sent too. Just as he was about to open it, she called again.

“Sabo! Why didn’t you pick up?” she demanded, out of breath and panicking.

“Sorry, I’m at the party. It’s really loud here, so maybe I’ll call back when I get home later, and we ca-”

“No!” she interrupted loudly, “Sabo you have to look at what I sent you!”

“I will, jus-”

“Now! It can’t wait! It's important, please go somewhere private!”

“I am, I’m in the bat-”

“Sabo, he might be in danger!”

Sabo froze.

“I understand. Hang up so I can read it.”

The line went dead after that and Sabo opened the file.

He read it once, twice...his blood turning to ice in his veins.

“ _Shit_ ,” he cursed, running his fingers through his hair and turning to run out to Ace. “Shit, shit, _shit_!”

  
  


* * *

  
  


_North Blue Tribune_

_March 13, 2016_

  
  


_The search for the missing college student, Law Trafalgar continues._

_Trafalgar was 24 years old at the time of his disappearance. Investigators say he was last seen by his friends and fellow classmates, leaving the university hospital at approximately 1:45 AM on December 12th. He has been missing for three months now._

_Investigators say his disappearance is linked to Doflamingo Donquixote, who was found dead only two days later with Law Trafalgar’s DNA at the scene of the crime._

  
  


_North Blue Tribune_

_April 9, 2016_

_Family of missing college student offers million beri reward for any information that may lead to whereabouts of their son, Law Trafalgar._

_North Blue Tribune_

_January 23, 2017_

_Police have had no new leads on Law Trafalgar, who went missing from Flevance University Medical Center a year ago._

_North Blue Tribune_

_August 9, 2017_

_Police declare that the case of missing student is now a homicide investigation._

_North Blue Tribune_

_December 1, 2017_

_After what might have been pressure from law enforcement, family of missing student Law Trafalgar allows them to declare him dead. The search for a body continues._

  
  


Below that was a screenshot of a google search from Koala’s phone.

_Missing persons:_

_Law Trafalgar: Date of disappearance: December 12, 2015_

_Date found: ------_

_After two years, Law Trafalgar remains missing to this day._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of people already called it, but I like to think I was clever about how much information I shared. Let me know your thoughts!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry that's its been such a long time since I've updated but I really can't bring myself to write nowadays, so forgive my tardiness and shitty grammar towards the end of this chapter.

Sabo exited the bathroom, his run breaking into a stumble, feeling like his legs would give out anytime. His heart was beating wildly against his ribcage, and he could hear blood rushing in his ears.

Calm down. Calm down. Calm down.

The music and lights were just making everything worse. 

He slumped against a wall and tried to calm himself, mind racing through his options. 

After taking a couple of deep breaths, he strode purposefully towards Law...only to be pulled in back into his seat next to Shanks. The redhead threw an arm around him again, drunkenly chattering about excited he was to finally be meeting Luffy’s older brothers. Sabo forced himself to stay calm and smile along with what was being said to him, letting Ace reply to all the questions, while he tried his best to catch Luffy’s gaze.

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ Law sighed as he strapped on his skis. The resort was practically empty at this hour, but Shachi and Penguin had insisted that they hangout one last time before Law holed himself up in his room to study for finals. Whereas most other students of his class found the obstacle of the upcoming exams daunting, Law was beyond thrilled. It was their last year after all. Just one last wringer to put himself through. _

_ ‘It’s so close,’ he thought, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, ‘I’m so close to reaching my dream.’ _

_ As he waited for Penguin and Shachi to show up, Law daydreamed about what his life after graduation would be like. How he would work at his Dad’s hospital as a doctor in his own right, no longer confined to observing from the sidelines or helping out with menial tasks. He would be a part of the team now, making diagnoses, planning out treatments and carrying out surgeries. _

_ Lami would be so jealous, seeing as how she still had a good two years before she graduated.  _

_ As he stood there smiling to himself, Law noticed two teens on the hill next to him preparing to ski down. From the looks of it they were the only ones here except for him. One of them seemed to be bouncing with excitement while the other looked more scared and hesitant.  _

_ ‘Tourists,’ Law assumed, and wondered if they had any experience with skiing. If not, they should have asked the resort to send an instructor with them. One of them even seemed like he couldn’t balance himself. _

_ Law cast a glance towards the chairlift. No sign of Penguin and Shachi or anyone else for that matter. He looked back towards the two teens who seemed to be arguing with each other now.  _

_ ‘Brazen for two beginners to be alone at the top of the peak,’ he thought, and sighed deeply as he began to make his way over to them. If his friends were going to take forever to show up he might as well make sure these kids didn’t kill themselves in the meantime. _

_ “Hey!” he called to them, but neither one showed any indication that they heard him. Why the hell were these two alone again? _

_ “Hey!” he called a little louder, and saw the excited one shake his head at his friend and begin the slide downwards, hollering with excitement. _

_ Law watched as the teen slid down the slope. He seemed to be doing okay in the beginning, but soon he wobbled and his legs spread out too far apart and he was tumbling down in a matter of seconds. _

_ ‘Holy shit,’ Law thought, his eyes wide as he watched the boy tumble at an increasing speed, soon disappearing from sight. _

_ “Luffy!” his friend yelled in fear, and before he could slide down after his friend Law grabbed his wrist.  _

_ “I’ll go,” he told him, “call emergency services, and go back down to the resort to inform them of what’s happened.” _

_ “But-” the boy protested but Law cut him off.  _

_ “From the looks of it neither one of you have done this before and if you follow him the same will happen to you. I’ve done this many times before, I’ll go get him, you get help.” When the teen still hesitated, Law smiled at him reassuringly. “I’m a doctor.” _

_ That was all it took, it seemed, as the boy nodded at him and pulled out his phone, ditching his skis and jogging back to the chairlift. _

_ Law didn’t watch him go, instead he raced down the slope towards where he saw the teen go. After a while, he saw him. He was lying face down next to a tree and Law winced when he realized he must have crashed into it. He went towards him and crouched down. _

_ “Hey? Are you okay?” he asked. He didn’t get a response and Law gently turned him onto his back hoping he didn’t aggravate any injuries. _

_ The boy was conscious, breathing heavily as blood trickled down his face at an alarming speed. _

_ “Oh crap,” Law said, pulling him to lay his head in his lap. He removed his beanie and inspected his head to pinpoint the areas of bleeding. He pulled his scarf off, ripping it down the middle so he could tie it around the boy’s head as a tourniquet. When that was done he lifted his chin with two fingers so he could examine his pupils. His labored breathing was beginning to sound more painful though, and the boy grabbed Law’s hand where it was holding his chin. _

_ “Hurts,” he moaned pitifully. _

_ “I know,” Law soothed, brushing his hair out of his eyes. _

_ “No,” the boy said and pulled Law’s hand towards his chest. Law’s eyes widened in disbelief at what he saw and at how easily he had missed it. There, in the center of his chest, he had been impaled by a sharp rock. _

_ “Hurts,” the boy repeated and Law remembered that his name was Luffy. _

_ “Luffy,” he said as calmly as he could, “I need you to stay calm and match your breathing with mine, okay?” _

_ Luffy continued whimpering in agony as Law coached him through cycles of inhaling and exhaling all the while picturing thoracic anatomy in his head to determine whether any major arteries or vital organs would have been pierced. From the location on Luffy’s chest, he determined that the periphery of his lung was probably damaged. _

_ Luffy had yet to get his breathing under control however, despite Law’s instructions, and he realized he was failing at calming Luffy. _

_ “Don’t be scared,” he told him in an attempt to rectify that. “I know it hurts, but my scarf will stanch the bleeding from your head, and this rock hasn’t injured anything vital. Your friend has probably reached the resort right now and help will be here in no time. Don’t worry, skiing accidents happen all the time. You’re going to be okay.”  _

_ Tears rolled down Luffy’s face and with a shock, Law noticed his lips turning blue. Internally he panicked. Was he wrong? Was it more serious than he thought?  _

_ Feeling desperate now, he cradled Luffy’s face in his hands, gazing into his obsidian eyes as he pleadingly said, “Breathe.” _

_ “Don’t leave me,” Luffy said instead, panting between words, “Don’t want to be alone.” _

_ “I won’t,” Law reassured him. “I’ll stay with you. You’re not alone. I’m here. Breathe.” _

_ A serene expression painted his face then, and he leaned into Law’s touch and smiled at him. _

_ And breathed. _

* * *

__

Sabo reached behind Shanks to pinch his brother’s arm.

Ace glared at him, but it was short lived as a man named Rockstar came and pulled Ace away to play a drinking game. Shanks laughed heartily and spurred them on.

_ Dammit. And just when I had gotten his attention. _

“So,” the redhead spoke, “you don’t talk much, do you?”

“Sorry,” Sabo mumbled, “It’s just that I’m not used to this sort of thing.”

“What sort of thing?”

“This,” Sabo motioned to the chaos around him. “I was kinda expecting, you know…”

“A bunch of stuck up shits sipping the finest wine and listening to an orchestra?”

“Yeah. Something like that. Not that that would be any better though.”

“Well, Anchor likes it, and he’s the birthday boy, so…”

The mention of Luffy had Sabo glance at his little brother, who only had eyes for Law. Electricity was buzzing under his skin, the urge to rip them apart and protect his brother was strong. He kept reassuring himself that it could wait until they got home, they’re not in any immediate danger in a crowd this big, but he couldn’t get Koala’s urgent tone out of his head.

_ Sabo, he’s in danger! _

Sabo had kept a sharp eye on Law since then, but Luffy and him were attached to the hip.

And then he realized he had yet to answer Shanks, who was watching him with a concentrated look on his face that melted away once Sabo turned back to him.

“...Something on your mind, Sherlock?” he asked, twirling his glass of alcohol.

Sabo hesitated. Could Shanks help him? Would it be a good idea to bring him into this?

_ Follow your instinct _ , a voice in the back of his mind that sounded suspiciously like Dragon’s told him.  _ It has yet to fail you. _

“I’m just curious is all,” he replied, leaning back and faking an aura of ease. “Luffy’s never shown interest in someone before and the one time he does he just forgets to tell me.”

Instinct was telling him to keep Shanks away.

“Dahahaha! Well, what else can you expect from Luffy? He’s a very unique guy.”

Sabo laughed along and accepted a drink Shanks poured for him. He was in investigative mode now.

“It’s just…” he started, leaning in to Shanks to make it seem like he was going to share something important, “I know this will sound stupid, but I have a sort of sixth sense…” he studied Shanks’ face, gauging his reaction, “...when it comes to my brothers. They’re easily the most important people to me. We may live away from each other, but even so I can always tell if something’s wrong.”

“And right now you feel like something’s wrong with Luffy?”

“Yeah, like…” he lowered his voice conspiratorially, “Like he’s pretending to be gay when he’s not.”

Shanks drew back stunned and looked at Sabo like he had lost his mind.

“...Why would he do that?” he asked, his tone almost as if he really didn’t want to know the answer.

“Because he knows I wouldn’t approve. He’s just using Law to get back at me.”

Shanks coughed into his fist. “I really don’t think you know Anchor as well as you think you do.”

_ Or so I would have you think. _

“You can say that sir, but I always know what’s going on with my brothers.”

_ Sorry for throwing you under the bus like that Luffy. _

“If you say so,” Shanks acquiesced and went back to drinking.

Sabo decided to use this opportunity.

“If you’d excuse me, I should really go find Ace.”

Shanks waved him away and Sabo could tell he seemed very disappointed in him.

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ Law watched through the glass as his father surgically repaired the damage to Luffy’s lungs. He had wanted to scrub in and assist but his parents decided it would be better for him to sit this one out. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out to see a message from Cora. _

**_Cora: Law, he’s asking about me again._ **

_ Law grit his teeth. Why couldn’t he just leave them alone? _

**_Law: Sengoku tell you?_ **

**_Cora: Yes. Be extra careful, okay?_ **

**_Law: Okay. You too._ **

_ Law sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He walked down the hall towards the elevators, intending on going up to his room and getting some sleep. On the way there, he ran into Luffy’s friend from the ski resort. He was with a group of very worried looking people. _

_ “Hey,” he greeted Law. “Um, is Luffy alright?” _

_ “He’s going to be okay. He’s in good hands now.” Law felt his chest swell with pride. His parents were the best doctors in North Blue. _

_ “Hey man, thanks for what you did for Luffy.” he turned around to tell the people behind him, “This is the guy that saved Luffy.” _

_ “We can’t thank you enough,” a black haired woman said, stepping forward to grasp Law’s hand between her own. _

_ “Yeah bro,” chimed in a man with a spiky hairdo, “He might have been dead if it weren’t for you.” _

_ The others behind him all agreed and Law and gently removed his hand from the woman’s grasp. _

_ “I’m just glad I could help.” he said. They all thanked him once again and Law trudged back to his room for a hot shower and some sleep. _

__

__

* * *

  
  


Sabo rolled his eyes as he watched his brother almost get trampled over by his fans. People were clinging to him, everyone trying their best to get a picture with him. At one point it appeared as though the crowd swallowed him, and Sabo had to fight through to make sure Ace wasn’t smothered to death by his own fans.

“You okay?” Sabo asked as he pulled him out of the throng.

“Yeah,” Ace replied, looking far from okay. His clothes were askew and his hair had been ruffled from one side. “Thanks, Sabo.”

Ace then promptly turned around and attempted to return to his game of beer pong with Rockstar. Sabo smacked the back of his head as hard as he could.

“Come here you idiot!” he growled as he pulled Ace behind him.

“What?” Ace asked, irritated.

Sabo opened his phone and took out the file Koala had sent him, scrolling downwards to missing person status on Law, and shoved the screen in his brother’s face.

He watched as Ace’s eyes flitted over the screen, his jaw dropping again.

He looked up at Sabo in horror.

“Oh my god,” he said, reaching out to grab onto Sabo’s wrist. “What do we do?”

“We confront him about it.”

“Luffy won’t be okay with that. Don’t you remember how well that went for you last night?”

“This won’t be like last time, because this time I’ll get him alone.”

Ace cast a meaningful glance at the horde of people partying all around them. “Good luck with that.”

Sabo chewed on his lip as he glanced around. The only place here where anyone could get any privacy would be the bathroom.

“I have an idea,” Ace said, and Sabo caught the gleam in his brother’s eye.“Go to the bathroom, hide in there and wait. I’ll try to see if I can get Law in there after you.”

Sabo smiled at him and bumped his head with his affectionately.

“I knew I could count on you,” he said, ducking back through the crowd.

* * *

  
  


_ Come on, Ace. It’s showtime. _

Ace picked up as many drinks as he could, chugging them down one after the other. It wasn’t enough to make him drunk, but no one had to know that. Being glomped by fangirls had already ruined his clothes and hair enough to make him look the part. Ace took a deep breath and feigned drunk walking as best as he could. He crashed into people, didn’t walk in a straight line and lost his balance frequently. As he approached the area Luffy and his friends were seated at, he picked up another drink.

“Luuuufffyyyy~” he slurred, trying to sound as obnoxious as possible.

His little brother turned and smiled brightly at him.

“Hi Ace!” 

Ace grinned back, making sure to wobble on his way over to them.

“Heeeyy, Lu. I just wanted to-” he stumbled then, on purpose of course, making sure his drink spilled all over Law. Law shot up immediately, holding his drenched shirt away from his skin. Nami and Luffy stood up too, the former fretting over his clothes and the latter asking if he was okay.

“They’re ruined,” she wailed, frantically searching her purse for tissues and handing them to Law.

“I-I’m really sorry,” Ace apologized, “maybe you should clean up in a restroom.

“Yeah,” Law agreed and then glanced at Luffy. “Um…”

“I’ll come with!” Luffy declared, grabbing Law by the wrist and leading him towards the bathroom.

_ Shit. _

Ace took a hold of Luffy’s wrist similarly and followed them, making sure to stumble enough to keep up the act. His mind was anything but intoxicated though as he wracked his brain for ideas to keep Luffy outside. They reached their destination too quickly though, despite Ace’s drunken gait, and just as Luffy’s hand grabbed the knob, he spun him around to face him.

“Wait! I have to to talk to you!” he blurted out. Two pairs of eyes looked at him in confusion.

“Now?” Luffy asked, brow wrinkled.

“Yeah…”

Luffy and Law shared a look.

“I’ll be in and out,” Law promised him, and after a long pause, Luffy nodded. Law entered the bathroom and shut the door and Luffy turned to look at Ace expectantly.

Ace had no idea how to stall him.

  
  


* * *

Law let out a breath of relief. He hated this party, and it felt good to be away from Luffy’s grip and his gaze. He walked to the sink and wet a paper towel, too concentrated on the task at hand to notice the figure creep up behind him until a hand was over his mouth and he was spun around and shoved backwards roughly, the sink digging into the small of his back.

“Don’t scream or do anything stupid,” Sabo ordered. He took out his phone and held it up in Law’s view. It was a picture of him. Written below was, ‘Last seen : December 12, 2015.’

“Start explaining,” Sabo spat and Law felt a glimmer of hope.

* * *

  
  


_ It was an hour past midnight when Law decided he had made a significant headstart on his preparation for the upcoming exams. He shoved his books into his bag and walked out of the library. Home was a half hour walk from there but Law enjoyed the peaceful silence and the chilly winter air. He was glad he had decided against driving to the library as he usually did. _

_ Despite being a large city, Flevance was always quiet at night, especially the part of town where Law lived. He gazed at the stars sometimes when he walked. It was something that always reminded him of Cora. _

_ He was only ten minutes away from home when he felt a chill go down his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He whirled around and scanned his surroundings. There was no one there, but Law had felt it. That same feeling that said he was being watched. He stood there like that for two minutes, eyes darting around for any presence of life, feeling on edge. When nothing happened, he sighed and started on his way...until he heard the engine of a vehicle roar and he looked over his shoulder to see a black SUV tear down the road towards him. By the time he registered what was happening, it skid to a stop next to him and Gladius threw the door open and dragged him in. The car sped off with him in it before Law could even react.  _

_ He didn’t struggle too hard. He knew that as long as Doflamingo had no idea where Cora was, he wouldn’t be harmed. _

_ It turned out he was wrong. _

_ Still, he tried not to struggle too hard. Not when Baby 5 stabbed him in the arm. Or when Gladius struck him with the butt of his gun.  _

_ If he was going to die, he wanted it to be in a way that would piss the flamingo coat bastard off. _

_ When Doflamingo finally waved his minions away, Law braced himself for what was going to inevitably happen. He wondered how he would go, and a second later Doflamingo pulled out his signature pistol.  _

_ “One last chance, brat. Where is my traitorous little brother?” _

_ Law gave him a shit eating grin. _

_ “Guess you’ll never find out.” _

_ Doflamingo just stared at him blankly, before sighing in an exasperated manner and loaded his flintlock. _

_ “What a shame,” he remarked, the hideous smile he usually sported nowhere to be seen. _

_ Law’s resolve never wavered. _

_ ‘Mom, Dad, Lami, Cora….I’m sorry.’ he thought as he waited for Doflamingo to pull the trigger and send him to the fiery pits of hell. _

_ Death never came though...at least, not for him. _

_ Instead, there was a deafening gunshot, and blood sprayed all over, covering Law. _

_ He watched in shock as Doflamingo’s corpse hit the floor with a resounding thud. _

_ He stood there, frozen in place until a soft hand reached up and wiped some of the blood from his face. _

_ Law’s gaze followed the hand back to its owner, and for the second time he found himself staring at obsidian eyes paired with a gentle smile. _

_ They stood there like that for what seemed like an eternity until Law finally broke the silence. _

_ “It’s you,” he whispered. _

_ “It is,” he answered, smiling sweetly. “You remembered me.” _

_ He did. He remembered watching Luffy fall. Cradling his head in the snow while tending to him as best as he could. His father operating on Luffy. Meeting Luffy’s friends. Watching him from the sidelines as he recovered. _

_ He didn’t understand. What was he doing here? Why did he kill Doflamingo?...Did he kill Doflamingo? _

_ Luffy tenderly brushed his hair out of his eyes and then took his hand.  _

_ “Come on. Let’s go,” he said, tugging on his hand. _

_ Law’s thoughts caught up to him then and he wrenched his hand from Luffy’s grip. _

_ “Why did you do that? How...why are you here?” he asked, taking a few steps back. Luffy frowned at him. _

_ “You were in trouble. I helped you,” he answered, frown deepening. He reached out to take Law’s hand again but Law stepped out of reach. _

_ “But why? How did you know where I was? Why do you have a gun?” Law shook his head before Luffy could answer him, “No, save it. We have to go. The others must have heard by now, we have to le-” _

_ “Oh, those guys? They’re all dead.” _

_ The sunny tone he spoke in made Law’s skin crawl. _

_ “I-I..” _

_ “My friends are really strong!” _

_ Law turned and ran. _

_ “Hey!” he heard Luffy shout after him, but he ran as fast as he could, not slowing down for anything. He had to get out of here. He had to get home. _

_ “Torao! Why are you running away?” The voice was closer than Law would have liked. “Are we playing tag? Now isn’t the time for games, you know?!” _

_ Did this idiot really think he was playing games with him? Law began to question if he was even sane. _

_ Law’s mind was racing. He knew he couldn’t keep this up. He was hurt, he was bleeding, he was exhausted...Luffy would catch up to him in no time if he didn’t do something. He ran down the stairs, almost tripping over Baby’s corpse, and stumbled into the first room in the hallway. _

_ It was Cora’s old room. _

_ He shut the door quietly and crawled under the bed, trying his best to quiet his ragged breathing. _

_ The adrenaline pumping through him had made his hearing sensitive to even distant sounds and Law strained his ears to pick up on the sound of Luffy’s now light and careful footsteps, so unlike the thundering stomps they sounded like while chasing him. The footsteps continued towards his direction and Law shut his eyes and prayed. _

_ The footsteps stopped. Law held his breath. _

_ The door swung open at the same time that Law heard Luffy giggle hysterically. _

_ “Hide and seek now?” he was saying, “I’m really good at this game, Torao!” _

_ ‘Who in the hell is Torao?’ Law thought, irritated. _

_ He watched as Luffy’s sandaled feet walked into the room, stopping in place for a few seconds before walking up to his side of the bed. Luffy let out a sigh and slowly crouched down, his face a few inches away from Law’s. _

_ “Only losers hide under the bed, you know,” he stated with a roll of his eyes. _

_ With a sinking heart, Law realized this really was a game to him. _

_ Luffy reached forward and dragged Law out from underneath by a tight grip on his elbow. _

_ “Fuck you,” Law said, pushing him away as soon as he was back on his feet. “Is this all a game to you?!” _

_ “You were the one that was running and hiding!” Luffy shot back, looking more confused than he had any right to be. _

_ Law glared at him in disbelief. _

_ “What do you want from me?” he asked, eyes glued to the gun in Luffy’s pants. _

_ “You saved me,” he said, his eyes shining even in the dark room, “I...wanted to see you again.” _

_ Law said nothing, waiting for Luffy to elaborate. Luffy reached for him again, and this time Law let him take his hands between his. Luffy brushed his thumb against his knuckles and spoke, _

_ “Remember when you were holding me in the snow?” _

_ Law gave a hesitant nod. _

_ “You said. You said you would stay with me. That you wouldn’t leave me alone,” Law’s eyes widened as Luffy continued, “If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead. You protected me,” Luffy raised Law’s hand to his face and pressed his palm against his cheek, cradling it.  _

_ “We were meant to be.” _

_ Law wasn’t sure if this was all just a bad joke or not. _

_ He gently removed his hands from Luffy’s grip and tried not to let his disgust show on his face. This kid needed help. _

_ “I was just doing what anyone would. Don’t read into it too much.” _

_ He spun on his heel and walked out, trying his best to forget the conversation. He had just made it to the front door when suddenly, he was consumed by the worst pain he had ever felt. _

_ He looked down. There was a glint of steel in the darkness, a sword cleanly impaling his thigh. _

_ He screamed as he buckled to the floor, writhing in pain, breaths coming in short gasps. _

_ Law looked behind him and met a pair of steel grey eyes. A man was standing over him, hand grasping the hilt of the sword, glaring down at him as if Law was his prey. _

_ Behind him, there were voices. _

_ “Marimo you bastard! Why the hell did you do that?” someone was yelling. _

_ “It would have made things complicated if he left,” he replied, voice as cold as his gaze. _

_ “Zoro’s right,” that was a girl’s voice, “we can’t risk letting people see him leave here alive.” _

_ “I know,” the other voice continued, “But why the hell did you have to do it like that?” _

_ The man named Zoro sighed before pulling his sword out, causing Law to scream again. _

_ He lay there on the ground, whimpering, until he was scooped up into someone’s arms. Law didn’t have to look to know it was Luffy. _

_ “Come on Torao,” he said softly, “Let’s go home.” _

  
  


__

* * *

“Well?” Sabo demanded, removing his hand. “Who the hell are you?”

“Law Trafalgar,” Law responded, voice so low it was hard for Sabo to hear him even in the silence of the bathroom.

“What do you want with my brother?”

Tears pooled Law’s eyes then and Sabo watched in shock and they cascaded down his cheeks.

“Nothing. I don’t want  _ anything _ to do with your brother.”

Sabo’s eyes widened at that.

“You’re not his boyfriend?” Sabo asked, confused.

Law scoffed at him. “Boyfriend,” he repeated, the disgust in his voice obvious. “I’m not his boyfriend.”

Before Sabo could ask what the hell he was doing there then, Law continued in the same quiet voice, “...I’m his captive.”

Sabo froze, letting his arms fall to his sides. 

“What...did you just say?” he asked, his hands trembling now. 

Law opened his mouth to answer, but his words were drowned out by loud knocks on the bathroom door. 

“Torao!” Luffy yelled from the other side, “What’s taking so long? Open the door!”

Neither Law nor Sabo moved an inch.

“Could you...repeat that?” Sabo said, feeling like he couldn’t breathe.

Law looked at him, and Sabo felt like he was seeing him for the very first time.

“Help me,” Law silently pleaded and Sabo’s heart sank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think?


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this took so long mainly because when I start writing, I just keep going without getting to the point. I also did alot of research for this chapter and came up with and discarded different ideas before finally sticking to this.
> 
> Enjoy!

“What did Ace want to tell me?” Luffy asked as soon as Law was inside. Ace bit his lip. He hadn’t planned on having to stall Luffy. He just hoped Sabo wouldn’t take too long.

“I just...wanted to say…” he started, nervously scratching the back of his head. Luffy continued to stare at him curiously. “I wanted to say that I’m really proud of you.”

Not that it wasn’t true, but it was the only thing he could think of. Nonetheless, it brought a small smile to his little brother’s face.

“Are you just saying this because it’s my birthday?” 

“No, Lu. I really mean it. You’ve grown so much and you’ve come so far. Honestly, I don’t know why I was so worried, but as your big brother, I also know that I’m never  _ not  _ going to worry, you know?”

Luffy’s smile grew.

“Shishishi, I know! Ace and Sabo are silly like that, but…” he glanced downwards briefly before meeting Ace’s eyes again, “...I’m really glad you two are my brothers.” 

Ace smiled just as brightly at this and pulled Luffy into a tight hug. Luffy buried his face in Ace’s neck and the two brothers just stood there like that for a while, basking in the warmth and comfort of each other. After they broke apart, Luffy offered him another shy smile before he turned and tried to enter the bathroom. The door was locked. Ace and Luffy shared a glance before he tried opening it again and when it didn’t budge he began to bang on the door.

“Torao!” he yelled, “What’s taking so long? Open the door!”

“Jeez Lu, it's only been like a minute, you don’t need to break the door, he isn’t going anywhere.”

Luffy considered this before replying with a curt, “I know” and then returned to banging on the door. Ace hoped Sabo actually accomplished something in the sixty seconds he managed to buy him.

The door swung open to reveal Law, who had damp paper towels pressed to the front of his shirt.

“Why’d you lock the door, Torao?” Luffy asked, folding his arms across his chest and glaring at Law like he killed his pet dog.

“Oh, was it locked? I didn’t notice,” Law replied, not meeting Luffy’s gaze and continuing to attempt to clean his shirt. “This isn’t really working.”

Ace scratched the back of his head bashfully. “Sorry again.”

Law just waved it off. “It’s okay. I don’t really need fancy clothes like these. It’s not like I get to go out anywhere.”

_ Get to go out? _

“What do you mean?” Ace asked, but Luffy huffed and held out his hand for Law to take. Law glanced at it, then at him, then shrugged and took Luffy’s hand. 

“Come on!” Luffy said, “it’s time for the feast!”

Ace was about to repeat his question when two pairs of arms were thrown around him from either side.

“Sit with us, Ace!” Nami said, her brown eyes sparkling. Vivi nodded enthusiastically. 

“We saved you a seat! Let’s go!” 

Both girls grabbed an arm each and started pulling him along with them.

“Wait!” he said, stumbling because of the way they were pulling him. He needed to talk to Sabo. “I, um, I need to-”

“We’re going to Shanks’ own private wing,” Vivi interrupted, “It’s VIP only! I feel so honored!”

_ So should you, _ she didn’t say but Ace heard it clearly anyways.

* * *

  
  
_ His captive,  _ Law had said tearfully, but that made no sense. Captive? Meaning that Luffy was his captor? What was that supposed to mean? That Luffy, his innocent little sunshine brother...had  _ kidnapped _ Law? Why? How?

_ No. That couldn’t be it. But… _

The missing person poster flashed in his mind. Two years. Law disappeared from North Blue two years ago. Foul play was suspected. Doflamingo was dead. 

Two years ago...Luffy went to Flevance.

_ No no no. Don’t be a dumbass. He didn’t go there just to kidnap a dude and then somehow bring him all the way to Raftel.  _

And how could he even pull that off anyway, Sabo thought, raking his fingers through his hair painfully. He felt like he was going to be sick. He felt like he was losing his mind.

Law had to be lying. He had to be. If he was an unwilling prisoner, why didn’t he just call the-

_ Dude doesn’t even own a phone, _ Ace had told him.

Sabo’s mind was spinning, his heart pounding against his ribcage. He could taste copper in his mouth.

No phone. No job. A thousand miles away from home-

_ I don’t want anything to do with him!  _ The sincerity in his voice was palpable, and yet, and  _ yet- _

_ Liar! Liar, liar, liar! _

Tears sprang to Sabo’s eyes and he wiped them away furiously.

_ Your instincts have never failed you. _

_ Well, _ Sabo thought, _ there’s a first time for everything. _

* * *

  
  


Luffy’s birthday feast was on the opposite side of the mansion where the party had taken place (and thank god for that because he was in no mood for that noise). Robin led him there and sat him between herself and Franky. Sabo noticed that there were only a handful of people there. He glanced around the mahogany dining table, searching for his brothers. Luffy was sitting on Shanks’ left, who was at the head of the table, with Law between him and Zoro. Ace was on the opposite side of him, in the middle of the two ends, flanked by Nami and Vivi. Sabo was more near the opposite end of Shanks, next to Robin and across from Sanji and Pudding.

Throughout the feast, Sabo craned his neck from time to time to see what Law was doing. At one point, he witnessed Luffy spoon feed him food from his own plate, with a rather smitten look on his face. Sabo knew very well how greedy Luffy was when it came to food, so watching him feed Law from his own plate, with that kinda look on his face, he had no doubt that his youngest brother loved Law very much. Law also seemed at peace, accepting the food Luffy would give him, giving him some of his own food in return and sometimes even returning the chaste kisses Luffy would give him.

How could this man have claimed to be a captive?

Sabo tried to put things into perspective, wondering what an actual captive would do in this situation. There was absolutely nothing stopping Law from standing up and proclaiming to all present here that he had been kidnapped and would like someone to call the police. He could yell and scream or even just grab a phone and do it himself. Sabo turned back to his food and nodded along to whatever Robin was saying to him. Law was lying, but Sabo couldn’t figure out why.

* * *

  
  


_ Law woke once more, writhing in pain. _

_ It was dark, too dark, he couldn’t see anything or anyone, but he could hear them. _

_ “Sssh,” someone said, and he could feel their skin on his face. _

_ “Luffy,” he heard another voice say, “hold him still. I don’t have anything to numb the pain. He’s going to feel this.” _

_ “Okay, Usopp. Just...hurry.” _

_ Luffy? Who was Luffy again?  _

_ The pain suddenly increased tenfold and Law’s own screams were so loud they nearly deafened him. The arms around him tightened and he was rocked back and forth in what he supposed was supposed to be a comforting motion. _

_ “Sssh, Torao. It’s okay. I’m here.” _

_ The words were mumbled onto his lips, a forehead against his. _

_ Law blacked out once more, just a few seconds of peace, until the pain came back again and he writhed in agony, hot tears rolling down his cheeks. _

_ Why was it so dark?  _

_ “Please,” he begged to whoever was there, his voice watery. “Please…” _

_ The rocking motion continued. _

_ “Stupid, directionless mossheaded idiot,” someone else muttered. _

_ “Luffy,” the voice came again, and Law could hear the warning in it. _

_ “Just do it, Usopp.” _

_ The pain he felt before was nothing compared to what he felt next and Law raised his hands and dug his nails in the arms holding him, clawing, screaming, crying. _

_ “Stop,” he cried, “Please, please I’ll do anything, just stop!” _

_ There was a sigh and then, “Just go back to sleep, Torao. It’s almost over.” _

_ Law wished he could, begged the darkness to swallow him again, and after he had screamed and cried himself hoarse, it relented. _

  
  


__

* * *

  
  
_ Mercifully, the next time he awoke, there was no darkness and no pain. _

_ Sunlight streamed through a window and Law was tucked cozily into a bed. He blinked a couple of times and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before slowly rising into an upright position against the pillows. This room didn’t belong to him. In fact, it wasn’t familiar at all. _

_ “Hey,” spoke a voice to his right, scaring him. Law turned to see Luffy sitting on a chair in the corner, looking at him. _

_ Almost instantaneously, his heart began to pound against his chest, and the air left his lungs. _

_ “You…” was all he could manage to say. _

_ Luffy stood up and circled the bed to the side he was at. He sat on the edge and slowly lifted the covers off of Law. _

_ He had been dressed in a plain blue shirt and boxers and the thigh that had been impaled was wrapped in bandages. Luffy ran his fingers across it and asked him, “Does it still hurt?” _

_ If it did, Law didn’t care.  _

_ “Where am I? Why did you bring me here?!” _

_ “This is our home.” _

_ Law scoffed. _

_ “Our? There is no ‘our’.” _

_ Luffy’s eyes flashed. _

_ “There is now,” he replied confidently, “ever since you saved my life.” _

_ “Jeez, you just want me to regret that, don't you?” He swung his legs off the edge of the bed, attempting to stand but stumbling when his injured leg couldn’t support any weight. Luffy shot to his feet and supported him, arms around his waist. _

_ “I don’t think you should walk yet, Tor-” _

_ “I don’t care what you think!” Law growled, shoving Luffy away forcefully. He held himself against the wall for support and began limping towards the door. _

_ Luffy's fingers wrapped around his wrist. Law glared at him over his shoulder. _

_ "Want do you want?" he spat. _

_ "Nothing," Luffy replied. "You're hurt. You need to rest." _

_ "No, I'm going home." _

_ "You are home." _

_ Law sneered at him and pulled his arm away. He continued limping towards the door, throwing it open and going out into the hallway that led to the living room. _

_ Luffy caught up to him. _

_ "I don't want you to make it worse. I want you to get better, so let me take care of you." _

_ "Kind words considering it was your friend that did this. If you want to help, take me back to my parents!" _

_ "I can't do that..." _

_ "Why the hell not?" _

_ They entered the living room and the sight of three swords made Law freeze in place. _

_ Zoro sat lounging on the couch a bottle of beer in his hand. Another man sat next to him, blond, and smoking a cigarette. At the sound of Law’s footsteps, they both turned to look at him. _

_ Zoro pulled his swords closer and Sanji put out his cigarette in the ashtray and stood up. _

_ "You must be hungry," he said, his voice kind. "What would you like to eat?" _

_ Law just stared. _

_ "I want to go home," he spoke softly. _

_ Zoro took a swig of his beer before regarding Law. _

_ "This is your home now. Better get used to it." he said, his voice as cold as the steel of his sword had been. _

_ Law saw red. He picked up the closest thing, which was a ship in a bottle, and threw it at him. _

_ Zoro dodged easily. _

_ "Who do you think you are?!" Law yelled at him, clenching his fingers into fists, "Why did you stab me?!" _

_ "What was I gonna do? Let you walk away?" _

_ Law clenched his teeth and began looking around for something else to chuck at this asshole when Luffy gripped his elbow. _

_ "Come on, Torao. Let’s go rest. Sanji will make you som-” _

_ “Don’t touch me!” Law growled, grabbing Luffy’s wrist and wrenching it away. The motion caused Zoro to stand and grab his sword. “What the hell is wrong with all of you? This isn’t my home! Stop saying it is!” _

_ Zoro unsheathed his sword. _

_ “Oh for god’s sake!” Sanji said, glaring at Zoro. “Put that away! Do you know how to do anything else, stupid mosshead!” _

_ “Shut up, love cook!” _

_ “He’s with us now! You don’t need to keep stabbing him, idiot!” _

_ “What?!” Law interjected, “I’m not with any of you!” He turned to face Luffy. “What is it you want from me?” _

_ “I just want you to be by my side!” Luffy answered, his gaze determined. “You saved my life that day, and didn’t ask for anything in return! That means yo-” _

_ “It means I’m not a psychopath who lets people die when he can do something to help them! I’m the son of a doctor!” He turned to face Zoro and Sanji. “Have none of you ever heard of a good samaritan?” _

_ “We need to give him time,” Sanji said, addressing Luffy. “That’s what he said. Right now, he’s hurt and alone and isn’t thinking clearly.” _

_ Zoro relaxed his stance and flopped back down on the couch, picking up his beer. _

_ Luffy said nothing, only giving Sanji a small nod. He put an arm under Law’s shoulders and under his knees, lifting him up and carrying him back even as Law struggled to get out of his hold. _

_ “You’ll love me eventually,” he said, “You were fated to.” _

_ He dropped Law on the bed and slammed the door shut as he left. _

__

* * *

  
  


Sabo listened as Franky prattled on about his new idea for a cola powered vehicle ( _ seriously, what the hell _ ), moving his food around his plate with his fork. There was no way he would be able to eat anything right now.

“Oh my,” Robin said, bringing a hand to her lips to hide a sly smile, “I would have thought all three of you shared the same gluttonous ways.”

Sabo smiled at her, following her gaze to where both Ace and Luffy were chowing down. He knew that he should eat something, at least for appearance sake, but he just...couldn’t.

He felt Robin’s scrutinizing gaze on him for a while longer, before she gave up and just went back to sipping her wine. 

After a while, Shanks’ cleared his throat and stood up, and everyone quieted down.

“I just wanted to say a few words on this momentous occasion,” he started, looking around at everyone. Ace was still eating and Nami had to take his fork and nudge his shoulder to get him to pay attention.

“First,” he continued, “I’d like to introduce myself and my crew for those of us who are new. My name is Shanks Le Roux and I’m the owner of the Red Force Welfare organization.” He gestured to a man sitting on his right and said, “This is Benn Beckmann. He’s one of our shareholders, one of our biggest donors, and my best friend! He’s also chief of the Raftel Island Police!”

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ The first time Law had been left alone in the apartment was a week later. He dragged himself, injured leg and all, to the front door and attempted to wrench it open. It didn’t budge. The hinges didn’t even creak. After pulling for a good ten minutes, Law gave up and started banging as hard as he could against the door, in hopes that someone outside would be able to hear him. _

_ “Help!” he called out, “Somebody help me, please!” He kept this up for a while, until finally a timid voice spoke up. _

_ “Um...are you okay, sir?” a girl, by the sound of it, asked. _

_ “Please call the police!” he answered, “I’m being held here against my will!” _

_ “O-Okay!” he heard her respond, “I’ll go call for help!” _

_ “Thank you!” Law shouted after her as he heard her hurried footsteps fade away. He slouched against the door and slid to the floor, letting out a sigh of relief. There were no phones in the apartment, or anything he could use to connect to the internet, so the neighbours had been his best bet.  _

_ He hoped his parents hadn’t worried themselves sick. _

_ After half an hour, there was a knock and a deep voice spoke from the other side of the door. _

_ “This is Raftel police. I’m going to kick open this door. Are you clear?” _

_ Law scrambled away from the door. “Yes!” he called out. _

_ The door was kicked open and two men in suits entered. They looked around before shutting the door behind themselves. _

_ One man was tall, muscular and had black hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was smoking a cigar. He pulled out a badge from his coat. _

_ “Benn Beckman, chief of Raftel PD,” he said. _

_ The chief himself came here for him? Law could almost hug the man. _

_ “I’ve been kidnapped!” He explained, “My name is Law Trafalgar and I’m-” _

_ “You’re going to shut the hell up and not pull this shit again.” _

_ Law blanched. _

_ “E-Excuse me?” _

_ “You’re here because Luffy needs you to be. If it weren’t for that, then I would have had no problem silencing you here and now.” _

_ Law’s eyes widened. He didn’t understand what was going on. The badge seemed legit. This man was the police. Why…? _

_ “Rockstar,” Benn addressed the man with him. “Get someone to fix that door and make sure no one enters here.” _

_ “On it,” Rockstar replied, leaving the apartment. _

_ Benn continued glaring at Law. _

_ “I-I really have been kidnapped. I’m telling the truth. Are you...not a police officer?” Law tried not to shrink under Benn’s heavy gaze. _

_ “I am. But you don’t need to know anything. At least, not yet.” _

_ “....” _

_ “Go back to your room, Law. Luffy will be home soon.” _

_ “He will?” _

_ “He will today.” _

_ Law hesitated, his eyes trailing from Benn’s face to the door behind him.  _

_ Fuck it, he thought and made a run for it. Benn caught him around the waist and threw him on the floor. He pinned him down with his knees, and clamped a hand over Law’s mouth. _

_ “You just had to be an idiot, huh?” he seethed, applying pressure to Law’s wound. Law growled and bit his palm, but Benn slapped him so hard he saw stars. He picked him up and held him by his neck, punching him hard in the stomach for good measure, before throwing Law over his shoulder and heading for the bedroom. Law kicked and clawed the entire way, but it had no effect. Benn threw him on the floor, but Law scrambled to his feet and barely brushed past him through the crevice between his arm and the doorway. He ran as fast as he could, but he was injured and Benn caught up to him in no time. He tackled Law to the ground, lifting his head by a painful grip in his hair and slammed it down into the floor. Law lost all fight in him and moaned in pain.  _

_ Benn stood up and dusted his clothes off. _

_ “Jeez,” Law heard him say. He stepped over Law and exited the apartment.  _

_ “Is everything okay?” he heard the girl ask. _

_ “Everything’s fine. It seems that he’s not mentally well. He was hallucinating. Better to just ignore him if it happens again, miss.” _

_ “Oh, thank goodness! I thought he really needed…” _

_ Help, Law thought before he blacked out again. _

_ When he awoke, Luffy was livid. _

* * *

  
  


“And this is Rockstar, the newly promoted Assistant Chief of Police!” 

Everyone around the table clapped for them, and Sabo reluctantly did the same. Ace didn’t even bother.

_ What’s the purpose of this? _

“This is Yasopp,” Shanks introduced, pointing at a curly haired man sitting next to Usopp. “Like Benn, Yasopp is also one of our main donors. He’s in charge of both National and International ports of the island, and controls the ships that leave the city.”

Sabo and Ace met each other’s gaze as everyone clapped. For some reason, it felt like Shanks was speaking directly to both of them.

__

* * *

  
  


_ “Dad!” Usopp cheered, jumping up from his place on the couch and throwing his arms around the man that just entered. _

_ Dad? Law thought, looking between the two of them. _

_ Yasopp laughed jovially as he hugged his son.  _

_ “What’s up, Sniper God?” he asked, ruffling Usopp’s hair.  _

_ “Hi Yasopp,” Luffy greeted from where he was sitting next to Law. _

_ “Hey kiddo,” Yasopp returned, before looking at Law. _

_ “And who might you be?” he asked, extending his hand. “I’m Yasopp, Usopp’s dad.” _

_ "Um,” Law hesitated, acutely aware of Luffy’s eyes on him. He reached out and shook his hand. “I’m Law...Trafalgar.” _

_ “It’s nice to meet you, Law.” Yasopp sounded so sincere it made Law’s heart full of hope. _

_ Surely...surely an adult would help him, right? A parent, not some corrupt psycho police officer. Maybe, maybe he should… _

_ “Usopp, you never told me about him before.” Yasopp was saying to his son. _

_ Usopp shrugged. “He’s more Luffy’s friend than mine anyway.” _

_ He had nothing left to lose. _

_ “I’m not his friend,” he told Yasopp hurriedly, before his courage left him, “He kidnapped me. From Flevance. It’s in the North Blue. So, uh, if you could call someone. That would be great. Just not the police.” _

_ Silence. _

_ Yasopp stared at him confused, whereas Usopp just raised an eyebrow. Law could feel Luffy’s anger rolling off of him. _

_ “Ohhhhh,” Yasopp said suddenly, “so you’re the guy everyone has been talking about!” He burst into laughter. _

_ “Is it really that funny?” Usopp asked him, rolling his eyes. Law shrank back into the couch, despairing. So this guy wasn’t going to help him either. _

_ “Going for the pretty boys, eh Luffy?” he asked between laughs. _

_ Luffy didn’t answer him, glaring at Law instead. _

_ “When are you going to give up Torao?” he asked, his hand tightening around his arm painfully. “No one who ever comes here will help you.” _

_ “And the sooner you understand that,” Yasopp added, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, before continuing in a tone of finality, “the better.” _

* * *

  
  


“This is Lucky Roo, he owns various apartment complexes and housing schemes in the city. It’s through him that we find low income housing for those in need.”

* * *

  
  


_ I must be crazy, Law thought as he stared up at the smoke detector. _

_ After half a year of captivity, Law had lost all reservations he had. He would do anything for freedom at this point. _

_ He had emptied any alcohol Luffy owned (which was mainly Zoro’s stash) all around the apartment. He opened all the windows so the smoke inhalation wouldn’t kill him before the fire department could get here. _

_ He could die anyways. He could kill others. He could end up setting the whole building on fire. _

_ He didn’t care. He wanted to go home. _

_ Taking a deep breath, he lit a match and dropped it on the ground. The flames didn’t erupt instantly like he thought they would, instead taking their time, but there was fire, and that was all Law cared about. Soon, the smoke detector was triggered and it began to sound throughout the department, showers immediately turning on. _

_ Someone has to come here, he thought, building security or someone. _

_ Anyone. _

_ Soon enough, the door opened partially and a man with long blonde curls peered in. _

_ “What happened here?” he asked. _

_ “Fire,” Law replied and tried to shove past him. The door swung open to reveal a rather huge man chewing on a piece of meat standing behind him. He shoved Law inside roughly and turned to the blond. _

_ “Cavendish, inform security that it was just a false alarm.” _

_ “Yes, Lucky Roo sir,” Cavendish said, disappearing. The huge man looked at him like he was something to be pitied. _

_ “Man,” he said, taking another bite, “Luffy was right. You really are persistent. But hey! It’s that kinda spirit we look for!” _

_ With that, the door slammed shut and the lock turned once more. Law sat there on the floor, staring at where the man had been before he erupted into a hysterical fit of laughter. He laughed and laughed until he couldn’t do anything but cry. _

_ That was how Luffy had found him.  _

_ “I wish you would stop hurting yourself like this,” he said. _

_ I wish I could hurt  _ **_you_ ** _ , Law thought. _

__

* * *

After the round of applause was over, Shanks continued.

“As you all have noticed, we have some new faces here today! Ace,” he said, gesturing at Ace, “and Sabo,” he said with another gesture towards him, “are Anchor’s fabled older brothers! Let’s make them feel welcome here, shall we?”

Franky clapped him on the back and cheered with everyone else. Sabo was sure he was just as red in the face as Ace. 

_ What’s going on here? _

Shanks cleared his throat once more, demanding everyone’s attention.

“I’m sure you all know why today is such an important day. Today, Luffy is twenty years old. Because there are new people here today, I’ll go into detail as to why that’s so important.”

He paused and Sabo felt queasy. Something was wrong.

“800 years ago, there was a king who ruled over a place known as Dawn. Dawn was no ordinary kingdom though. It was the land of the sun, where the sun rose from, and where it set everyday. It was the land that brought light to the darkness around the world, and as such the people born there were no ordinary humans. These people had the unique power to bring light to people who had never known anything but darkness. But one day, twenty kingdoms, jealous of their radiance, rose against them. Dawn Kingdom fell, but all was not lost, for its people live on till today. I am a descendant from the Kingdom of Dawn.”

Sabo could tell Ace was trying his best not to roll his eyes. 

“We all know how dark the world around us has gotten. Most of us sitting here have even experienced it.”

There was a moment where Sabo noticed everyone had their heads down, eyes shut as if they were in pain. Vivi seemed to be fighting back tears even.

“And yet, we are all here today because we were saved by the light. Before Dawn Kingdom was annihilated, they predicted that one day, someone from their people would rise again, the chosen king who would bring back the light. For the longest time...our people thought that would be me. But we were all wrong. It wasn’t me,” Shanks turned to Luffy, reaching out to tenderly caress his face, “but this young man right here.”

Sabo’s jaw dropped. 

_ Is this lunatic for real? What the hell is he trying to pull? _

He made to stand up from his seat, but Franky’s heavy hand grasped his shoulder tightly, keeping him in place.

“Let go,” Sabo told him through clenched teeth.

“Don’t interrupt the leader,” Franky warned. Sabo was about to give him a piece of his mind when suddenly, all the dots connected.

_ Holy shit. Holy shit, this is a cult. _

He tried to shrug off Franky’s hand but his grip just tightened and Robin clasped his hands in hers as well. Desperate, he began craning his neck around for an escape. There were only a handful of people, Shanks’ crew as he called them, and Luffy’s friends. Sabo looked at Ace hoping to gain his attention long enough to warn him.

Ace was looking back and forth between Shanks and Luffy, an incredulous look on his face.

“Anyone here can testify to the light Luffy has brought into their lives. Where we were before we met him, and how we couldn’t possibly have escaped the darkness without him.” Shanks met Sabo’s gaze then, threw his arms wide open and declared, “We are the People of the Dawn, and he is our one true king. Sabo, Ace. We have so much to thank you for. You are more than his brothers, you are his valiant heroes, his brave protectors, his wise guides. It is because of you that we have this light in our world today. And so we thank you, and welcome you amongst us with great honor.”

“What are you saying?” Ace growled, furious, pushing Nami and Vivi away from him as he stood. “What kind of crap are you filling my brother’s head with?”

“It’s the truth,” Shanks spoke calmly, walking towards Ace. “I understand your bafflement. I didn’t let Anchor tell you anything and then just sprang all this upon you. I just wanted to be the one to deliver this message, because I expected you would have some difficulty understanding it. What I’m sayin-”

“Luffy,” Ace interrupted, looking at their brother, “What the hell is going on?”

Luffy avoided Ace’s gaze, looking meaningfully at Shanks instead.

“You aren’t the first one to react like this, I swear. Law here was very much the same, but now look at him,” he gestured towards Law who was sitting with Luffy’s hand in his own, not looking at either of them. “Now he’s as happy as he can be, and of course he would be, for he was fated to be the king’s one true love. Luffy shines upon him the brightest-”

“Did you kidnap Law, you psycho?” Ace said, the anger rolling off of him in waves.

His words made Sabo realize.

_ I’m his captive,  _ he had said and Sabo had ignored him. No, it wasn’t Shanks who had kidnapped Law. Sabo turned abruptly and threw up on the floor. Everyone turned to stare at him, but he could care less.

_ Oh no. No. Not Luffy. Not my baby brother. He couldn’t have.  _

“Did you?!” Ace asked again, and Shanks sighed.

“No,” he answered. “Luffy did.”

Ace’s fist connected with Shanks’ face, sending him flying back. Everyone jumped up to their feet, some of them running towards Shanks, others restraining Ace. In the midst of it all, Sabo snuck up behind Law and wrenched his hand free from Luffy’s grasp.

“Run!” he urged, pushing Law towards the doors, “Go! Now!”

Law took off and didn’t look back. 

“No!” Luffy cried, struggling in Sabo’s hold. “Zoro!” he called, and Zoro took one look at Luffy and raced out the door.

Sabo dropped Luffy and ran after him.

He had to save Law. He had to. There was no other choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so, this whole idea was much better in my head than it was on paper. Despite my research I still feel like my depiction of a cult isn't very accurate, so forgive me for that. Also, the whole idea behind the cults beliefs comes from a popular one piece theory about the Ancient Kingdom and the Will of D.
> 
> Tell me what you thought of the chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the long time it took me to update. I was really busy, and it was hard for me to find time where I wanted to write. Since it's been approximately 7 months since the last update, I would recommend rereading this fic so that it can be easier to read this chapter. The quality of writing may be shitter too, so sorry for that too. Thank you all for your patience.

Law bolted down the hallway, running as fast as he could and pushing his legs to go even faster still. He could feel Zoro close behind him and the terror forced adrenaline to pump throughout his bloodstream.

"You know how this ends!" Zoro was saying, "Make it easy on yourself and stop trying!"

But he couldn't. This could be his last chance at freedom.

_ Torao isn't a very fast runner,  _ Luffy had told him one day after another failed attempt to escape.

_ He was right, _ Law reflected. Even now, his leg hurt where Zoro had stabbed him, the pain as fresh as if it had just happened yesterday. But his leg had healed a long time ago, and only memories and fear were what were trying to hold him back now. He couldn't let that happen. Not this time. Not after what he heard in that room.

He ran past the stairs, too afraid that Zoro would catch him if he were to use them. But he knew he was on an upper floor, and to leave he would need to go down. Instead, he took a sharp left before the corridor could end, heading into unknown territory. He was certain that he had no  idea where he was going, but being lost was better than being caught and-

Zoro tackled him from behind and they crashed to the floor, his arms a vise around his torso as Law flailed to get him off. He dragged himself across the carpet, ignoring the resulting burn, before he heard the shrill sound of a sword being unsheathed. Zoro pressed the cold steel against his neck and Law froze.

"There we go," Zoro jeered, removing his arm from around Law and standing up, "Now get up, nice and slowly."

Law grit his teeth and obeyed, tears stinging the corners of his eyes. Zoro removed the sword from his throat and rested the tip against the middle of his back instead.

"Turn around, and walk back to Luffy."

Law did as he was told, slowly turning to face Zoro, the sword aimed right at him. The steel glinted and Law found that he couldn't move. Zoro seemed to realize what was happening and he sighed.

"I can't put it away," he told him, "Not until you're back where you're supposed to be."

" _ Supposed _ to be?" Law repeated, angry, sad and frightened at the same time.

Zoro raised an eyebrow at this and instead gestured for Law to start walking. Law glared.

"Move," Zoro commanded, tightening his grip on the hilt.

" _ You _ move," Law replied, voice cracking from fear, but trying to remain strong nonetheless. Fury flashed across Zoro’s face, those steely eyes narrowing, and Law braced himself for what was about to come. 

Zoro raised his arm to swing at him but before he could, Sabo appeared behind him, throwing his arms around him in a chokehold. Caught off guard, Zoro stumbled into the adjacent wall, trying to maneuver his katana into an angle where he could stab his assailant whilst he was struggling to breathe.

"Get moving!" Sabo yelled, "Before the others get here!"

Law nodded and ran further down the random hallway that he had chosen, praying that he would find a way out.

_ It doesn't even have to be the way I came, _ he thought,  _ The back door, or-or even a window would be fine. It didn't even have to be the ground floor. Just...a safe height. Just so I can make the jump. I-I can handle a broken ankle. _

Law continued running until the end of the hallway was in sight, with no other turns he could take. He skidded to a halt, mentally weighing his options. He didn't want to turn back. That way had Zoro. He was slipping into the early stages of panic when he noticed the small staircase at the end of the hallway.

_ Down,  _ he thought.  _ I need to go down to go out. _

Not wasting anymore time, he rushed down the steps, taking two at a time, ending up in a hallway similar to the ones upstairs. He assessed the hallway, searching for a window before trying to open the doors when he found none. They were locked.

"Shit!" he cursed, stomping a foot and running a hand through his hair. Chewing on his lip, he nervously eyed the entrance. Taking a deep breath, he braced himself and walked towards it, trying to keep his steps as quiet as he could.

It led to a large room with a round table in the center. There was a doorway on the opposite side, across from where he stood. Tentatively, he began crossing the space, keeping his steps small and quiet. He had almost reached the door when he heard voices from the other side of it. Panicking, he instinctively dove for the first hiding spot he found-under the round table. Not a few seconds after he was hidden, the door opened and he could make out Nami and Usopp walking in. 

“What do you think is going to happen now?” he was asking her.

“I don’t know. But the sooner we find him, the better. If he escapes then-damn it!”

“What?”

“My gun! I left it in my purse upstairs!”

“...should we go back and get it?” Nami let out a deep sigh. “No. We don’t have time. Let’s just keep going. One gun is good enough. You have better aim than I do anyway and I doubt Law can dodge bullets.”

Law’s throat tightened.

_ So they mean to shoot me _ . He closed his eyes and remembered the way Luffy smiled at him that morning...and a million times before.  _ But they won’t kill me. I’m sure of that much at least. _

He watched as they crossed the room to leave from where he had entered, before stopping abruptly. He held his breath.

“What?” Nami asked, a tinge of fear in her voice.

“Nothing. I just thought I heard something is all.”

On que, a loud thud resounded from upstairs and without another word, the duo dashed out the door and down the hallway, presumably towards the staircase Law had used. When he was sure they were gone, he crawled out from underneath the table and quietly headed out the door.

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Sabo tightened his hold on Zoro, his eyes on Law’s retreating back.

“Get off!” Zoro grunted, elbowing Sabo in the flank. Sabo hissed in pain, but didn’t relinquish his hold.

“What’s going on?” he asked instead, “Who is this guy and what does he really want with Luffy and Law?”

“There’s no time for this!” Zoro threw his head back, hitting Sabo in the face. Sabo staggered backwards, hands around his throbbing nose. The swordsman whirled, and in a flash, Sabo reflexively kicked him in the face, watching his neck whip sideways violently before slamming him into the ground.

_ I can’t let him draw his swords. _

They wrestled on the floor, Sabo continuing his interrogation through the struggle.

“How do I stop this?” he asked desperately, “How do I fix this?!” 

Law’s sorrowful plea rang through his ears, and an image of Ace’s back as he stood, enraged, in front of Shanks, flashed through his mind. As did Luffy’s look of utter disappointment.

_ How do I save them? _

Zoro chuckled darkly. “You can’t, Sabo. It’s too late for them. It’s too late for any of us.”

Anger coursed through him, overriding the despair. _ Good _ , he thought,  _ anger can be useful. _

His fingers dug into the skin around Zoro’s neck, digging in deeply, harshly, the way skin molds itself to a searing hot surface. He didn’t hear his gasps for air, didn’t feel his fingers raking against his skin. 

His brothers were all that mattered now.

The sound of footsteps rushing towards him snapped him out of his trance, and he realized that Zoro had already lost consciousness. The sounds came closer and closer and Sabo’s anger began to wilt away and leave panic in its wake. He caught a gleam in the corner of his eye. Laying on the floor next to Zoro’s katana...was a car key.

Sabo snatched it up and hid in a closet nearby.

“Who’s that?” he heard someone ask.

“I-I think...shit! It’s Zoro!”

The footsteps came closer.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god! Is he...dead?” asked the person whose voice he now recognized as Nami’s.

“I don’t know!” That one sounded like Usopp.

“Well then check!”

“I...no. No. I can feel his pulse. He’s just knocked out.”

“Law must have done this. He’s here. He’s up here, when really he should be downstairs. What is he up to?”

Sabo flinched. He really hoped Law wouldn’t get caught. He needed to escape...or all of this would have been for nothing.

“Zoro will wake up on his own, Usopp. Let’s split up for now. We need to cover this floor, and fast. Give me your gun.”

“What?! But then, what will I do?”

“I don’t know! You’re smart, you’ll figure it out. Now give me.”

A sigh and then, “If I die Nami, I’ll be sure to haunt you.”

He heard someone walking away, and after a minute, a pair of footsteps which seemed to be coming closer.

_ Only Nami has a gun and they’ve split up. Bad decision on their part. Luffy always said he’d never seen anyone with better aim than Usopp.  _

He braced himself as the footsteps came nearer, preparing to pounce. As soon as the sound was close enough, he threw open the door and dragged the person inside.

It was Usopp. Sabo almost felt bad.

The long nosed kid flailed around, throwing hands and leaning away from his grasp.

“I’m warning you!” he yelled, “I am the Great Usopp, of eight thousand men!”

Sabo sighed and punched him in the face. He was out like a light, snoozing on the ground.

He left him there, closing the door and heading in the other direction. It was easy enough to sneak up Nami. He took her by surprise, wrenching the gun out of her grasp and covering her mouth with his hands when she attempted to scream. She bit him of course, but he didn’t let it deter him.

He wondered what Koala would think about him punching the daylights out of a girl, but alas, it had to be done.

He hastily picked up the gun and hurried to find Law.

_ It’s quiet, _ He thought.  _ Too quiet. _

_ Where’s everyone else?  _

__

* * *

Law attempted to open every door he came across. The only ones that would open were either storage closets or bathrooms. 

_ Go down, go down, go down. _

He eventually reached the main staircase he had run past earlier when being chased by Zoro. He cast a glance around him, expecting to see someone looking for him. 

_ More people should be here, _ he thought. The staircase connected all the floors, and led straight to the front entrance. It was odd. The place should have been where everyone would look for him. Nervously, Law began his descent. He went slowly, not wanting to make any noise, and continuously glanced over his shoulder for any sign of anyone.

He felt oddly vulnerable.

Dread continued to pool in his stomach, the eerie silence stretching on,even as he stepped onto the linoleum flooring at the landing of the stairs.

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding…

...only to choke when a large hand wrapped itself around his neck. He kicked his feet as he was lifted off the ground, clawing in vain at the hand crushing his windpipe. He tried craning his neck around to see his attacker, but he could barely move his head sideways. His lungs were burning from the lack of air, saliva pooling in his mouth and coming out of the sides of his mouth due to his inability to swallow, but no matter how much his vision blurred, he kept his sights on the door in front of him.

Nico Robin blocked his view.

“I must say,” she began, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “I overestimated you. I didn’t think that you would go for the most obvious-and therefore highly likely to be guarded-exit.”

Law spat at her. He could do that much at least, even if he missed.

_ I should have trusted my gut. _

Robin’s gaze remained stone cold.

“Franky,” she said sweetly, “be a tad bit more gentle. We don’t want him to die. Not so soon, at least,” she added, smirking up at him.

Franky. Law should have guessed it would be the giant given how high off the floor he’s dangling.

Franky’s grip relented a little, enough for Law to suck in a breath of air, but not enough for him to fight back.

Robin turned to look at the doors for a second before turning back and facing him.

“And you were so close,” she said with a sigh.

“Screw you,” he gasped out. Her face remained as impassive as ever.

Riling them up was his only chance now. He needed Franky to release him somehow or else they would take him straight back to Luffy and then it was all over for him.

“I know...what you did,” he continued, noticing the glint of interest in her blue eyes. “She’s not...your daughter!” he coughed, still not getting all the air he needed to speak. “You’re not her parents!  _ You stole her! _ ” 

“The  _ hell _ we did!” Franky roared. He threw Law against the cold floor, outraged. Law didn’t even get a second to breathe before Franky turned him onto his back and pinned him to the floor with a foot on his chest. Law glanced at Robin and was surprised by what he saw.

There was no anger in her eyes. Only pity.

“Luffy told me everything,” Law persisted, “She wasn’t an orphan when you met her. Not until you made her one. You killed her father so that you could take her home!”

“Torao,” she began, using the nickname to mock him, “you shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Blood relations don’t matter. They don’t make you family. It’s the people who we chose.”

“I don’t believe for a second that she chose you.”

“Perhaps not,” she agreed, her tone harder than before, “but  _ we _ chose  _ her.  _ Her father? He wasn’t worthy of the title. He was so poor, he could barely feed her. He was going to sell her for profit if we hadn’t saved her!”

“Saved her?” It was his turn to mock now. “Ah yes. You  _ saved _ her. That’s what you all do, right? Ruin people’s lives on account of  _ saving _ them, like the  _ saviors _ you all are.”

Franky and Robin exchanged a glance.

“I’ve never heard him talk this much before.” Franky stated casually, as if Law wasn’t just mocking him.

“We don’t need to explain ourselves to you, Law.” Robin said, “The truth is that Toko has a better life now, and we gave that to her.” She paused hesitantly, before continuing, “and you could have a better life too...here, with Luffy. If you would just give him a chance, you’d see how he’s-”

“ **_I had a good life!_ ** ” Law screamed, enraged. “My family, my friends, my hopes, my dreams, my future...he took it all away from me!”

Franky and Robin recoiled at his outburst, Franky’s hold giving just a little, enough for Law to escape, if he hadn’t been too blinded by rage to notice.

“I’ll never forgive him! I’ll never be with him! I’ll never-”

He was cut off by the sound of a gunshot.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Sabo trembled where he stood, gun pointed at the two with Law. He couldn’t believe what he just overheard.

Stole her. Killed her father. Saved her.

_ You could have a better life too, here with Luffy. _

He fought off a fresh wave of nausea and struggled to focus.

“Get…,” he began, trying not to sway where he stood, “Get away from him. Or the next one won’t miss.”

“S-Sabo,” Robin mumbled, and he turned the gun to her. “What are you doing here? Where’s Luffy?”

_ Luffy... _

“I don’t know,” he answered.

“Bro...put the gun down. We don’t need to do this.” Franky attempted to placate him, but Sabo wasn’t having any of it. They did need to do this and Sabo hoped he was ready. 

_ Shoot to maim isn’t a thing, _ Dragon had told him once.  _ There’s no guarantee that you will hit the spot you aim for, or that the target won’t bleed out. You either shoot to kill, or you don’t shoot at all. _

Sabo didn’t know why he even remembered that, given that he wasn’t in the kind of business that involved shooting anybody. Sure, he was good at roughing people up, but he attributed that to his time growing up on the streets with Ace and Luffy and the hellish visits from their military grandfather. But now...he would have to shoot.  _ Oh God,  _ he realized, _ I have to kill someone. _

Robin and Franky hesitated for a while longer before Franky let Law up and backed away a couple of steps. Law looked shocked but he slowly made his way to him on shaky legs. Franky looked as if he were about to reach out and stop him but Sabo quickly aimed his gun at him instead. Once Law was close enough, Sabo took a deep breath.

_ I hope you don’t die, _ he thought as he shot Robin. There was a second of pause before anyone reacted.

“NO!” Franky screamed, rushing to his wife’s side. Law jumped at the sound of a gun going off so near to him, but Sabo grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a run beside him.

“Come on!” he yelled, ignoring the way his heart sank as he heard Robin gurgle behind him.

He and Law dashed down the corridor he had come from.

“Window,” Law said, next to him, “we need to find a window, or something. We can’t use the doors, they’ll be guarded-”

“There’s an exit through the kitchen,” Sabo informed him, “we just need to find it.”

The pair continued running down hallways and turning corners. Eventually, they reached a dead end. 

“Why is the kitchen so hard to find?” Sabo grumbled. 

“Let’s just use a window.” Law repeated. Sabo frowned at him. 

“All these damn rooms are locked,” he told him. Law glanced pointedly at the gun in his hand.

“Oh.” Sabo felt like an idiot.

They turned and faced the endless hallway. 

“All these rooms have windows?” Sabo asked, wondering how they would choose.

“One of them must.”

They chose the door closest to them and shot it down. Fortunately, there was indeed a window inside. They unlocked it and snuck out, making sure to remain as quiet as possible.

“Stick close to the shadows,” Sabo whispered.

“Where are we headed?”

“The parking lot,” he showed Law the key he took. “You drove here with Zoro right? Where did he park his car?”

“I think...it was right next to the gate.”

They both stopped.

“The gate?” Sabo was annoyed. Everyone would be able to see them sneak up to the gate, and they would have to put up a fight.

“Yeah,” Law said, probably realizing the same thing. “But don’t worry. We aren’t unarmed and…no matter what, they won’t kill us.”

Sabo looked at him.

“How do you know?” he asked, searching his face.

“I just do. I wouldn’t have made it this far if he didn’t want me alive.”

Sabo’s hold around the gun tightened and he nodded. They didn’t have any time to waste with fear.

They snuck through the parking lot, making sure to duck around cars and not walk out in the open where they could easily be seen. It was quiet, the way it had been inside.

“Where do you think everyone is?” Sabo asked.

“I don’t know. Probably still looking for us inside. Although, the gunshots should have attracted a lot of attention.”

“I knocked out Zoro, Nami and Usopp. I snuck past Sanji and Pudding. They seemed headed towards the opposite side of the mansion then where we found Robin and Franky. I...can’t recall if anyone else followed me out when I ran after you.”

Law grunted in acknowledgment but the unasked question hung in the air between them.

_ Where’s Luffy? _

Zoro’s car came into sight soon enough, but Sabo and Law had to cross an open space to get there. They hurried towards the car and both breathed sighs of relief when they made it there.

“Where are you going?”

Sabo froze. 

Standing a few feet away from the car, in front of the gate...was his little brother.

  
  


* * *

_ No... _ Law thought, despairing.  _ No, no, no. _

Luffy looked at Sabo and then met his eyes.

“L-Luffy,” Sabo breathed, reaching out towards him, but staying rooted to the spot.

For the first time since Law has known him, Luffy looked...crushed.

“Luffy. Please, just, please come with us,” Sabo pleaded, and Law fought to not react. “Please. Just trust me, okay? I’ll take you back home and we can-”

“I don’t want to go back home with you,” Luffy interrupted, his voice icy. “I want you to stay here. With me.”

Sabo looked devastated. Law pitied him. 

“Ace is,” Luffy continued. “Staying with me, that is.”

That seemed to be the final blow for Sabo and his knees buckled, sending him to the ground as tears flowed from his eyes.

_ It’s all up to me now. _

He closed his eyes and took a moment to calm himself. Everything that he had worked on for the past 18 months. This is where it mattered.

“Luffy,” he called as sweetly as he could. He tried his best to seem perplexed. “What’s going on? Why are you fighting your brother?” 

This seemed to catch Luffy off guard, and he scrunched his eyebrows.

“You...why did you run away?” he asked, his eyes guarded.

“I just-I didn’t know what was happening. Everything happened so fast. Ace punched him and then he was yelling and then everyone was yelling and then Sabo told me to run, so I did.”He paused to let that sink in before continuing. “I’m sorry. Are you mad? I really didn’t know what to do.”

Luffy just stared at him, confused. Law could feel Sabo’s eyes on his back but he ignored him. 

When Law had realized how utterly fruitless his escape attempts were, he switched strategies. He had needed to gain Luffy’s trust. Get him to drop his guard. So he played the role Luffy wanted him to. He doted on him, cleaned his house and cooked his meals. Returned all his smiles and kisses. Patched him up when he was hurt. Calmed him when he was angry, held him while he cried. And was obedient through and through. This was the moment he had been waiting for. The moment where it all mattered.

_ And if it doesn’t matter now, it never will. _

Slowly, so as to not startle him, he walked towards him, and brushed a finger against his cheekbone lovingly. Luffy blinked up at him.

“Luffy,” he said softly, “your brother is crying.” Luffy didn’t spare Sabo a glance though and continued staring at Law. “You told me they meant a lot to you. Your brothers. Listen to him, please?”

When Luffy didn’t reply, Law gently held his hand, intertwining their fingers. Slowly, he began to lead him towards Sabo. 

He had no choice but to trust in Sabo now. In Ace, who had given them this chance. Luffy may have been wrong about many things but Law was starting to think that his brothers were someone he may have been right about all along.

Sabo stood up and watched them approach.

“Luffy!” someone called out. Law whirled.

It was Sanji. He was running towards them from the other side of the parking lot. Everything changed, and Luffy freed his hand from Law only to wrap an arm around his waist.

“No! No one’s going anywhere!”

“Luffy!” Law struggled against his grip. Sanji was coming closer and soon the others would be here too and no, he was so close…

In a split second, Sabo wrenched Luffy off of him.

“Get in the car!” he ordered Law, who quickly obliged. Luffy shoved Sabo away from him and tried to follow Law, but Sabo looped an arm around him and pulled him back. Law watched as the two fought, and as Sanji drew closer, Sabo made a choice. He threw Luffy as far away from him as he could and climbed into the car. He turned the key in the ignition and the car revved to life. Sanji had reached Luffy at this point, but Sabo backed the car out of the lot and with one last longing glance towards Luffy, sped away as fast as he could. 

“No! Come back!” he could hear Luffy calling after them. Law watched as the figures became smaller and smaller until he could no longer see them anymore. 

_ Am I free?  _ He wondered, before the sound of anguished sobs broke him out of his reverie.

Sabo was gripping the wheel tightly, tears cascading down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he kept repeating over and over.

Law stared at him wistfully before placing his hand over Sabo’s own.

“Thank you,” he said, “and...I’m sorry too.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?


End file.
